Background:
This is an interview with Shaykh Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwī, the Great Imam of the Azhar conducted by Cornelis Hulsman and members of the Maʿadī Community Church which is a very diverse community. They belong to many different Christian backgrounds and come from forty different countries. They discussed many issues in the Islamic creed and how they could be compared to Christianity. They talked about the motives of worshiping God and fasting in Islam. Moreover, they brought up how Islam believes in only one God, while Christianity that believes in the trinity of God. Both questions and answers are interpreted into English and Arabic.
Side A:
Shaykh Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwī, the Great Imam of the Azhar, stresses upon the freedom of belief in Islam. The Qur’ān says there is no compulsion in religion. Thus, the differences in creeds and beliefs do not represent any obstacle for cooperation between communities. He added that, all humans are joined by humanity and that God created us to know one another and to cooperate.
When asked about his relationship with God, Shaykh Ṭanṭāwī mentioned that it is based on being obedient to what God ordered any Muslim to do. He believes that all that God asked for is good and all that he prohibited is a vice. Therefore, he does all his duties in worshiping Allah by praying, paying alms (al-zakāt), fasting during Ramadan and completing pilgrimage.
The motivations to serve God in Islam, Ṭanṭāwī mentioned, comes from believing that God will always choose and order him to do what is best and prohibited him from all what could cause him trouble. Out of this trust, Muslims should be motivated to worship God. Also, the main motive to fast is obeying God. Fasting in Islam teaches the Muslim mercy and kindness because it is refraining from eating, drinking and giving in to one’sdesires from sunrise to sunset. He did not comment on the motives behind fasting in Christianity and mentioned that it should preferably be explained by Christian clerics.
Shaykh Ṭanṭāwī mentioned several verses from the Qur’ān that stresses upon the good treatment of one’s enemies. They are considered equivalent to what Jesus called for when he said to love one’s enemies. Also, he mentioned that Islam calls for peace. Muslims should not fight unless they are attacked; it is only then that they should defend themselves.
The original version of the Qur’ān that was written in the era of ʿUthmān Ibn ʿAffān, Ṭanṭāwī says, could be found in the Azhar Library and the Egyptian National Library.
Side B:
Ṭanṭāwī mentioned that all the sacred books, the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’ān, asked for the sincere worship of God. All prophets and messengers ask people to be sincere in their worship of the only God. The word believer in the Islamic law means to be sincere in your worship to God. The word Kāfir( disbeliever), in the Islamic law, means shirk with Allah. When asked if it was possible for a Muslim to use the word Kāfir against a Christian, Ṭanṭāwī said that it is not his duty to categorize whether a person was Kāfir or not. Also, the Azhar is not the place to do so. He can only speak about its meaning in the Arabic language which is worshiping others with God.
Ṭanṭāwī stressed that God is only one God by referring to the first verse in the 112th sura in the Qur’ān. Christians believe in the trinity of God which contradicts with the nature of God in Islam. However, Ṭanṭāwī mentioned that everyone should respect the other’s beliefs.
