Egypt's Endowments Ministry to launch counter-extremism center

CAIRO – 9 September 2019: Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) announced intentions to launch a new center for religious research and studies, which would contribute to correcting religious misconceptions and refuting extremist thought.

The center is set to include specialists in religions, languages and humanities, to counter extremism.

The objectives revealed by the ministry also include achieving a modern and integrated formulation of rational, enlightened and moderate religious thought.

The ministry said that it will task the center with confronting misconceptions set by some groups, in order to implement their deviant ideologies, consolidating the concepts of mental and critical approach in research and thinking, and preparing a generation of distinguished researchers in the field of religious thought.

The ministry said it would announce later the conditions of joining the center and the mechanisms of cooperation with it.

In an interview with Egypt Today, Sheikh Gaber Taye', spokesman for the ministry, said that the researchers of the ministry would monitor the extremist ideology of groups and movements in all languages through the internet, publications, literature and speeches to take intellectual measures against them.

The spokesman added that the center will include a number of the most qualified researchers and preachers from the ministry, who master the use of computers, languages, and scientific research, and have the ability to think creatively and deal with religious variables.

Al-Azhar, Egypt's biggest Islamic institution, has a similar body named Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism. Earlier in September, the European Union (EU) hailed the role played by the observatory in confronting the extremist thought and revealing the reality of the terrorist groups.

During a visit to the observatory, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove stressed the importance of cooperation between the observatory and the bodies concerned with countering terrorism and extremism in Europe to step up counter-terrorism efforts

Meanwhile, Tarek Shabaan, the observatory coordinator, reviewed the work mechanism of the observatory units.

Egypt's Mufti of the Republic Shawky Allam contended in 2018 that Egypt had already embarked on a large-scale moderation process of its religious discourse.

In press remarks, Allam said that the process is set to explore new and effective ways to combine community organizing strategies with technology and social media to address extremism and spread the values of tolerance and acceptance of others from different religions and cultures.

Egypt is on the road to renewing the religious discourse after all mosques have been placed under the Awqaf’s authority, according to Mohammad Mukhtar Jumaa, the minister of endowments.