Al-Azhar fatwa office opening soon inside Cairo Metro

Cairo – 10 June 2017: An office with the authority to issue official fatwas (a ruling on a point of Islamic law) will open its doors inside Shohadaa Metro station within days, according to Cairo Metro spokesperson Ahmed Abd Al-Hady in a statement on Friday.

A numbers of preachers will be stationed inside the office operated by the Azhar Islamic Research Academy (AIRA), affiliated to Al-Azhar University, to answer any questions from passengers regarding religious issues.

Additionally, a full program of religious and social topics set by Al-Azhar will be tackled by preachers through daily religious sermons for commuters. Fixed dates for speeches and question sessions will be set and announced publicly beforehand.

May 29, 2017 marked the AIRA’s first religious sermon broadcast inside the stations and trains of Cairo Metro. It was delivered by the Head of Public Relations at the Academy Sheikh Hany Shams al-Din to the passengers of Metro Line 2, where he spoke for 10 minutes on the recent wave of violence that Egypt has experienced and the need for unity in the face of religious extremism.

The speech came as part of a cooperation protocol signed this year between AIRA and the Metro Company to broadcast daily religious programs at Cairo Metro stations during the holy month of Ramadan.