Member of the Senior Scholar Authority of the Azhar Dr. Ahmad ‘Umar Hāshim said that in accordance to the Azhar Bylaw No. 13 for the year 2012 , the candidates for the position of the future muftī are exclusively nominated by the Authority; he added that the nominees do not necessarily have to be members of the Authority Board.

Dr. Hāshim explained that the Authority has decided to select a candidate who is not affiliated to any political group, current or party, as such could have an impact on his task as muftī responsible for the legislation and jurisprudence of the country. A further prerequisite the candidate should fulfill is that he is an Azhar scholar who had studied and specialized in legislative and fiqh sciences.

Member of the Senior Scholar Authority Dr. Bakr Zakī ꞌAwad stressed that the Minister of Endowment Dr. Talꞌat ‘Afīfī changed the members of his cabinet and positioned new leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood, an experience that proved negative and which the Authority does not want to see repeated in the selection of the new muftī (Fātimah Khālid, al-Sabāh, Feb. 4, p. 6).  Read original text in Arabic.