Al-Azhar University @Wikipedia
Last week Pope Francis condemned ISIS- the Islamic State for acts that were a ‘Grave Sin Against God’ and called upon Muslim leaders to come out against the radical Islamist group. Now Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar University has condemned the actions of the ISIS and similar Islamist radicals as a "perversion of the Islamic religion". From Christian Today:
Speaking at a major conference at the University – regarded as the most important centre of Sunni Muslim theology – he said in an opening speech that jihadist factions commit "barbaric crimes with the clothing of this sacred religion, assuming names such as ‘Islamic State’ with the intention of exporting their false Islam".
The conference was convened to reflect on the relations between the Muslim world and Islamist extremism. …
According to the Fides news service, participants included 700 scholars and representatives of political, social and religious institutions from 120 different countries. Leaders of eastern Christian communities were also present.
Grand Imam al Tayeb said that any terroristic ideology justified with references to Islam was based on distorted and manipulated understanding of the writings of the Koran.
Response: This was a huge development that was mostly ignored by the Western press. Imam al-Tayeb is the head of the top Sunni institution of higher learning and the conference included the Coptic Pope and Catholic Coptic Bishop along with over 700 scholars and religious leaders from 120 different countries.
It is long overdue, but finally major Muslim leaders are coming out against the radical actions of the Islamic State. Even more encouraging, Muslim and Middle Eastern Christian leaders are getting together to address the threat posed by radical Islamist groups like ISIS.
Better yet, the Grand Imam has declared that his school would promote new studies aimed at teaching against the radical’s manipulation of Quranic writings along with arguments to counter their aberrant theology. *Top