Grand Shaykh of the Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyīb said that all documents, statements and decisions as well as meetings held at the Azhar headquarters throughout last year was not an attempt to get the top Sunni Muslim establishment to play a political role but rather out of keenness on the nation's unity.
Tayyīb expressed relief over all initiatives through which he tried to bring together all different political and ideological factions in order to fend off division and meet halfway.
The Grand Shaykh, during a meeting on Tuesday (Jan. 17) with a delegation from the Islamic Forum on Moderation, appealed to all Egyptians to preserve the gains of their revolution, defend the possessions of this nation and avoid assaulting the harmless citizens.
For his part, Muftī of the Republic Dr. 'Alī Jum'ah, who also received the delegation, said that the principles of the sharī'ah are a ceiling no one can go beyond, noting that the al-Qā'idah network and Taliban Movement are the best vivid examples of the downfall of hard-line ideologies. [Khālid al-Mat'anī and Muhammad 'Abd al-Khāliq, al-Ahrām, Jan. 18, p. 14]
