Date of source: 5 Jun 2024
By Lūaʾī ʿĀlī
The Muslim Council of Elders, under the chairmanship of Dr. Aḥmad al-Ṭayyīb, Grand Imām of al-Azhar, emphasized that Islam places a high value on environmental preservation and protection because the Almighty Allah created the universe and everything in it with extreme care and precision and left...
Date of source: 26 Jun 2024
By Eildert Mulder
Good afternoon, civil servants, diplomats, and others. You have asked me to speak today and I do so with appreciation. I will start with the shortest summary of the message I want to give you: I find it more than admirable what you are doing. I am in particular referring to the civil servants among...
Date of source: 29 May 2024
By Wāʾil ʿAlī
Pope Tawāḍrūs of the Coptic Orthodox Church stated that the Holy Book bestows a unique status to Egypt and Palestine, noting that both countries' names appear there 700 times.
Pope Tawāḍrūs made the remarks while receiving a delegation of senior Palestinian officials at the Papal Residence on...
Date of source: 29 May 2024
By Unknown
Anṣār al-Sharīʿa (Supporters of Islamic Law), an extremist group in Libya that the UN and the US had classified as “terrorists,” declared in a statement that it had disbanded itself.
By declaring this self-dissolution, the group, which has ties to the al-Qāʿida Network, said that “we will be...
Date of source: 17 Jul 2024
By Candace Lukasik
Date of source: 29 Mar 2024
By Sawsan Abū Ḥusayn
Aḥmad bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Qaṭṭān, the kingdom’s permanent envoy to the Arab League and ambassador to Cairo, stated that King Salmān is emphasizing the value of promoting intercultural communication and a culture of peace, as demonstrated by his inaugural statement at the 4th Arab-Latin Summit in...
Date of source: 25 Jun 2024
By Lūʾaī ʿAlī
Al-Azhar Imām, Dr. Aḥmad al-Ṭayīb is embarking on a tour of Southeast Asia in early July. He will visit Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand to discuss al-Azhar's role in promoting Muslim evangelism (daʿwa) and education in these countries with a host of officials and religious and cultural leaders....
Date of source: 13 Mar 2014
By Unknown
A proposal to amend Article 20 of the Moroccan Personal Status Law Code, specifically concerning the marriage of minors under the age of 18, has caused division among the ruling majority and opposition groups within the country’s House of Representatives. Demands were made by the progressive...
Date of source: 12 Feb 2016
By ʿAbdallah Muṣṭafā
Fūʾād Bilqāsimī, the national leader of the Islamist organization Sharia4Belgium and a Moroccan-Belgian, has chosen to take his case to the Belgian Supreme Court in protest of a ruling made by the Court of Appeal a few weeks prior, which sentenced Bilqāsimī to 12 years in prison and a fine of €30,...
Date of source: 28 Jul 2024
By Wāʾel ʿAlī
The Episcopal Church, under the leadership of Dr. Sāmī Fawzī, Archbishop of the Alexandria Province of the Episcopal Church, expressed its great sadness over the inappropriate artwork that was displayed at the opening of the Olympic games in Paris 2024. The artwork comprised an image of “The Last...
Date of source: 28 Jul 2024
By Luʾay ʿAlī
Tomorrow (Monday, July 29th), the General Secretariat of Fatwā Authorities Worldwide will hold its ninth international conference, under the auspices of President ʿAbd el Fattāḥ al-Sīsī, and the umbrella of Dār al Iftāʾ.
Here are 10 important facts about the conference:
1. The conference will be...
Date of source: 3 Aug 2024
By Khālid al-Shāmī
Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), stated on Saturday, August 3, that the council has repeatedly called for the end of the occupation, the realization of justice, peace, and equality, and the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to...
Date of source: 10 Jul 2024
By Unknown
Al-Azhar’s Grand Imām, Dr. Aḥmad al-Ṭayyeb, stated that teaching children to memorize the Holy Qurʾān was his greatest wish and that he was prepared to resign from being the president of al-Azhar to fulfill this desire.
Social media users shared a video clip by Dr. Ṭayyeb, who spoke about his “...
Date of source: 12 Jul 2024
By No Author Mentioned
During a mourning session for a deceased man, Shaykh Hishām Samīr ʿAntar was reciting lines from the Qurʾān as is customary. However, he drew criticism for seemingly moving his body in an obscene manner that is not appropriate for Qurʾān recitation.
Shaykh Hishām ʿAntar’s Qurʾān recitation was...
Date of source: 15 Aug 2024
By No Author Mentioned
Hasan Akhund, the prime minister of Afghanistan, stated that Afghanistan must uphold the sharīʿa’s ruling and that the Taliban is “taking on the responsibility of upholding the ruling of the sharīʿa, protecting people's lives and property, and respecting our nation.”
To commemorate the third...
Date of source: 24 Aug 2024
By Lūʾaī ʿAlī
The former grand muftī and chairman of the House of Representatives’ Religious & Awqāf Affairs Committee, Dr. ʿAlī Jumʿa, noted that the Awqāf conference is unique in that it highlights the role that women play in awareness-raising.
According to a statement from Jumʿa, the 35th conference of...
Date of source: 25 Aug 2024
By Maḥmūd Muṣṭafā Abū Ṭālib
Under the patronage of President ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī, Minister of Awqāf (religious endowments), Dr. Osāma al-Azharī, honored a number of dignitaries and notable members of Egyptian society on the sidelines of the 35th session of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
In the Cairo district of...
Date of source: 20 Aug 2024
By Luʾay ʿAlī
At the 2024 Indonesia International Islamic Book Fair, the Muslim Council of Elders pavilion took home the Best Pavilion Award, making it stand out among the local and international institutions, organizations, and publishing firms that were present.
Tens of thousands of people attended the fair,...
Date of source: 13 Aug 2024
By No Author Mentioned
Dr. Ashraf al-Rāʿī will soon publish a new book titled “Electronic Crimes - Objective Rulings on Crimes of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence,” which discusses Jordanian statute 17/2023 on electronic crimes.
The book is a valuable addition to the law library at a time when...
Date of source: 17 Aug 2024
By Nādir Shukrī
Copts offered prayers and petitions for the return of Christina Karīm ʿAzīz, a 20-year-old Christian girl who has vanished for almost two weeks in the Asyūṭ governorate’s al-Fatḥ town.
Her family made a plea to all relevant authorities to step in and help solve the girl’s unexplained disappearance...
Date of source: 8 Sep 2024
By Luʾay ʿAlī
At the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs headquarters, editors-in-chief of major press organizations met with the Minister of Awqāf (Religious Endowments), Dr. Osāma al-Azharī, to discuss the ministry’s action plan to renew religious discourse.
During a speech, Dr. Azharī stated that his ministry...
Date of source: 17 Mar 2024
By Saḥar al-Abyaḍ
2024 was designated as the “Year of Female Preachers” due to the prominence of female preachers at al-Azhar and the Ministry of Awqāf (religious endowments) in recent years.
More than 200 female preachers from al-Azhar and over 1,000 accredited female preachers from the Awqāf Ministry worked...
Date of source: 3 Sep 2024
By Maryam al-Sharīf
As the tenure of the current councils on divorce and second marriage expired, Pope Tawāḍrūs issued an order replacing the heads and members of the regional clerical personal status councils dealing with these issues.
Papal Decision No. 3 for the year 2024 on the lineup of the Clerical Council on...
Date of source: 9 Aug 2024
By Tuqā ʿAbd al-Majīd
There was wide-scale controversy in Iraq after the Ministry of Justice proposed a draft law to lower the age of marriage to 9 years of age for females and 15 years of age for males.
Proponents of human rights fiercely opposed the plan, calling it a “major setback for human and women's rights in the...
Date of source: 28 Aug 2024
By Maḥmūd Muṣṭafā Abū Ṭālib
A high-level youth delegation from the Egyptian Family House project (Bayt al-ʿĀʾila), led by Anbā Ermīyā Makram, met with Egypt's Grand Muftī, Dr. Naẓīr ʿAyyād, to discuss ways to collaborate.
ʿAyyād, who is also the head of the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide, emphasized that...
Date of source: 11 Sep 2024
By Rūʾa Mamdūḥ
The Director of the Islamic Sheikhdom of Croatia, Shaykh ʿAzīz Hasanović, stated that there is no denying the efforts made by Dār al-Iftāʾ in Egypt to counter accusations of Islamophobia, which have been steadily increasing. This is especially true in light of the increasing number of racist...
Date of source: 14 Sep 2024
By Muḥammad al-Aḥmadī
The chairman of the council of Catholic patriarchs and bishops, Anbā Ibrāhīm Isḥaq of Alexandria, congratulated President ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī and other high ranking state officials on the occasion of al-Mawlid al-Nabawī, which marks the Prophet Muḥammad's birthday.
Anbā Isḥaq issued a statement...
Date of source: 16 Sep 2024
By ʿAzza Raḍwān Ṣidqī
The life of the Afghan woman has changed considerably over the past few decades. In the past, women had equality, voting rights, and legal protections, polygamy was not permitted, weddings were reserved for girls over the age of 21, and while traditional attire was the norm, some women preferred to...
Date of source: 16 Sep 2024
By Maḥmūd Muṣṭafā Abū Ṭālib
The Minister of Awqāf (Religious Endowments), Dr. Osāma al-Azharī, stated that Egypt, led by President ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī, is making every effort to put an end to the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In a speech on al-Mawlid al-Nabawī (the Prophet Muḥammad’s Birthday), Azharī stated...
Date of source: 9 Sep 2024
By Mirvat Rashād
A Shem Tov Bible text from the 1312 Spanish Golden Age will go up for auction at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday, September 10, with a starting bid of $5–7 million.
One of the most significant Hebrew copies of the Bible that made it through the Spanish Middle Ages is the Shem Tov. It was written...
Date of source: 10 Oct 2024
By Maryānā Sāmī
Love is an endless debate, deceptively simple yet deeply complex. Many discussions are circulating about the nature of love, probing questions like: Can we commit ourselves and make choices? Who do we fall in love with and whom do we avoid? Can we create a “book” of prohibitions for ourselves and...
Date of source: 26 Sep 2024
By Maḥmūd Muṣṭafā Abū Ṭālib
“In only 23 years, the Prophet Muḥammad managed to bring mankind from darkness to light and to set up a fully-fledged Ummah (state) based on knowledge, righteousness, dignity, and humanity,” said the deputy grand imām of al-Azhar, Dr. Muḥammad al-Ḍūwaynī. “This state has spread throughout the world...
Date of source: 8 Oct 2024
By ʿAmr al-Shūbakī
On the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023 operation, the most important question that needs to be asked is whether Israel intended to move toward a peaceful settlement and this operation came about to destroy this track, or if Israel has progressively eliminated any chances for a peaceful...
Date of source: 7 Oct 2024
By Teresa Shinūda
On the first anniversary of October 7, 2023, the day when the “fuse of hatred was lit” that would begin the war in Gaza, Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church sent a letter addressing all Catholic Christians in the Middle East.
In his letter, Pope Francis said, “I am thinking of you and praying...