Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ Visit to Al-Azhar
Cairo - September 11, 2004
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Grand Imam Mohamed Sayed Tantawy received the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, one of Sunni Islam’s most revered centres of learning. The occasion was the Anglican Communion and Al-Azhar Al-Sharif’s annual meeting. His Grace the Archbishop was accompanied by HE the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Cairo, the U.K. Embassy’s staff in Cairo, the Bishop of the Anglican Church in Cairo, and the Church’s delegation.
HE the Grand Imam delivered a speech during which he acknowledged that regular meetings and dialogue with others are important for the sake of mankind, in order to avoid wars and conflicts, as well as to mitigate issues that generate corruption and destruction in human society. He added that, “the name of the religion word, ‘Islam’ is derived from the word for peace (Al-Salam), and among the more than one hundred holy names of Allah is the name Peace (Al-Salam). The religion of Islam extends its hand to everyone sharing peace with it and the Muslim greeting upon meeting each other is ‘Al-Salmu-Alaykum’, meaning ‘peace, security and stability be upon you.’”
His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury expressed his thanks and appreciation to HE the Grand Imam for his courteous welcome. He acknowledged the enormous efforts rendered by Al-Azhar to hold those meetings and agreed with the words of HE the Grand Imam urging mutual trust and understanding among religious figures and clergymen for the sake of the entire humanity’s welfare. In his speech delivered at the al-Azhar al-Sharif Institute in Cairo, Archbishop Rowan said, “The greatest challenge today for our world is how to react to circumstances in a way that is faithful to God’s will.”
Both religious leaders urged people of faith not to use the name of God to justify violence and injustice.
The visit by His Grace the Archbishop to HE the Grand Imam at Al-Azhar was attended by:
Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zagzoug, Minister of Religious Endowments
Dr. Mahmoud Embabi, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif
Dr. Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt
Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb, Rector of Al-Azhar University
Dr. Ibraheem Al-Fayoumi, Secretary General of the Islamic Research Foundation
Sheikh Fawzi Al-Zafzaf, President of the Permanent Committee Al-Azhar for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions
Dr. Ali El-Samman, Vice-President of the Permanent Committee of Al-Azhar for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions
HE the Grand Imam delivered a speech during which he acknowledged that regular meetings and dialogue with others are important for the sake of mankind, in order to avoid wars and conflicts, as well as to mitigate issues that generate corruption and destruction in human society. He added that, “the name of the religion word, ‘Islam’ is derived from the word for peace (Al-Salam), and among the more than one hundred holy names of Allah is the name Peace (Al-Salam). The religion of Islam extends its hand to everyone sharing peace with it and the Muslim greeting upon meeting each other is ‘Al-Salmu-Alaykum’, meaning ‘peace, security and stability be upon you.’”
His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury expressed his thanks and appreciation to HE the Grand Imam for his courteous welcome. He acknowledged the enormous efforts rendered by Al-Azhar to hold those meetings and agreed with the words of HE the Grand Imam urging mutual trust and understanding among religious figures and clergymen for the sake of the entire humanity’s welfare. In his speech delivered at the al-Azhar al-Sharif Institute in Cairo, Archbishop Rowan said, “The greatest challenge today for our world is how to react to circumstances in a way that is faithful to God’s will.”
Both religious leaders urged people of faith not to use the name of God to justify violence and injustice.
The visit by His Grace the Archbishop to HE the Grand Imam at Al-Azhar was attended by:
Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zagzoug, Minister of Religious Endowments
Dr. Mahmoud Embabi, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif
Dr. Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt
Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb, Rector of Al-Azhar University
Dr. Ibraheem Al-Fayoumi, Secretary General of the Islamic Research Foundation
Sheikh Fawzi Al-Zafzaf, President of the Permanent Committee Al-Azhar for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions
Dr. Ali El-Samman, Vice-President of the Permanent Committee of Al-Azhar for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions