The Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) discusses with the Grand Sheikh of the Al-Azhar University in the Vatican
Ahmad al-Tayyib or Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb (also el Tajjeb and Ahmad Mohammad al-Tayyeb, born 1946 in Luxor, Egypt) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar.
He was appointed Sheikh of Azhar in 2010. As such, he is also the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar Mosque and is considered one of the highest religious authority in Sunni Islam. The appointment as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar is for life. In the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Grand Sheikh, by virtue of his office, automatically holds the protocol rank of prime minister and can only be recalled by the president of the republic; as rector of al-Azhar University, al-Tayyib previously held the rank of minister.
Ahmad al-Tayyib is a member of the Egyptian Society of Philosophy, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, the Islamic Researchers Assembly, the Council of Confidence of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, and president of the religious committee of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union. el-Tayeb rejects the terrorist organization “Islamic State” as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. He advocates the dominance of the Islamic religion over the state and rejects an enlightenment of Islam.
In 2007, he was one of the 138 signatories of the open letter “A Common Word Between Us and You” and in 2019, he signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together with Pope Francis. The 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti references Al-Tayyib several times.
Thomas Schirrmacher addresses Pope Francis and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar © Vatican Photo
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