On January 8th, 2012, in the middle of the Arab Spring, al-Azhar Grand Imām Dr. Aḥmed al-Ṭayyeb published an important document, The Al-Azhar Declaration on Essential Freedoms, which has not received the attention it deserves. According to the statement, the Grand Imām and a team of al-Azhar scholars felt it was necessary to articulate an Islamic vision of essential human freedoms in light of rapidly shifting political contexts in Egypt and the broader Middle East. There are several different translations of this document available online which vary in quality, but the English version posted on the Grand Imām’s personal website can be found here.

The declaration addresses the freedom of belief, the freedom of opinion and expression, the freedom of scientific research, and the freedom of literary and artistic creativity. It should be noted that the views expressed in the document do not necessarily correspond exactly to the way human freedoms may be conceived in various European states, the United States, or other countries, which do not always agree with one another in any case on the definition and limits of some of these freedoms. Nonetheless, the document provides a useful and important foundation for further dialogue about the shared values and remaining differences that exist between world cultures and religions.

For all these reasons, I was excited to witness a recent dialogue in Cairo structured around The Al-Azhar Declaration on Essential Freedoms. The session was one component of a groundbreaking annual seminar organized by the Woodberry Institute which provides Christian students from around the world the opportunity to study Islam from senior al-Azhar professors in Egypt. The subject of the seminar this year was Ṣufism, often understood as the mystical or spiritual tradition of Islam. The scholar organizing the course is Dr. Joseph Cumming, a leading figure in Christian-Muslim relations who brings a unique blend of advanced academic scholarship and practical experience having spent decades living in the MENA region.

(Dr. Joseph Cumming and Dr. Ḥasan al-Shāfiʿī, perhaps the most significant Muslim theologian in Egypt today, during the dialogue session on January 13th, 2025.)

The dialogue involved several Christians from various traditions, including Dr. Cumming, Dr. Jean Druel, O.P., and Dr. Damaris Wilmers, along with several senior scholars from al-Azhar, including Dr. al-Shāfiʿī, Dr. ʿAbdul Dāyem al-Nuṣayr, Dr. Muṣṭafā al-Khedawī, and Dr. Yāsser Ḥelmy. The wide-ranging conversation touched on numerous issues, including Christian and Muslim theological foundations for fundamental freedoms, the challenges posed when essential freedoms or rights are in tension, the question of hypocrisy and double-standards in human rights, bioethics, atheism, and religious freedom. It was an encouragement to many of us in the field to see several senior Christian and Muslim scholars engage honestly on these central and vital questions.

As our readers will know, a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was finally reached on Sunday, January 19th. Our earnest prayer is that this ceasefire holds and that a pathway toward greater peace emerges rather than more death and destruction.

Matthew Anderson

Director - Center for Arab-West Understanding

Executive Editor - Dialogue Across Borders (Brill)

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January 21, 2025