Date of source: 21 Sep 2025
A strategic and military expert denounced statements by renowned writer Ibrāhīm ʿĪsa in which he urged al-Azhar to call on the Palestinian factions to surrender to the Israeli occupation forces to stem bloodshed of civilians.
ʿĪsa cited the Prophet Muḥammad’s orders to dig a ditch to protect...
Date of source: 12 Oct 2025
Muḥammad Aḥmad ʿUmar Hāshim, the son of the late cleric Aḥmad ʿUmar Hāshim, who was a member of al-Azhar’s Council of Senior Scholars and the former president of al-Azhar University, expressed "deepest appreciation" to President ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī for naming him for the Senate membership...
Date of source: 8 Oct 2025
A cleric of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs said Egypt has lost a great man and scholar who offered much for the Muslim nation and the students of al-Azhar, Dr. Aḥmad ʿUmar Hāshim, a member of al-Azhar’s Council of Senior Scholars.
"I have worked with the late scholar for more than 25 years...
Date of source: 12 Aug 2025
Minister of Awqāf (Religious Endowments) Dr. Usāma al-Azharī on Tuesday (August 12) received Dr. Aḥmad al-Ḥasanāt, Grand Muftī of the Hāshemite Kingdom of Jordan, at the headquarters of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Cairo, where they exchanged views on cooperation in the field of daʿwa...
Date of source: 8 Sep 2025
Shaykh Aḥmad Wissām, Secretary of Fatwa at the Egyptian Dār al-Iftāʾ, said Muslims should not get into hasty judgements about others but rather have to discuss the circumstances and reasons why some women took a decision to stop wearing the ḥijāb.
"Perhaps some women have had skepticism, have been...
Date of source: 25 Sep 2025
The Supreme Council of Sufi Orders announced the sites and dates of celebrations marking the birthday anniversaries of the late righteous figures and scholars to make things easier for visitors nationwide.
As for the mūlid (birth anniversary) of al-Ārif Billah Sīdī Aḥmad al-Badawī in the city of...
Date of source: 10 Oct 2025
Celebrations of the mūlid (birthday anniversary) of al-Ārif Billah Sīdī Aḥmad al-Badawī are starting today, Friday (October 10), in the city of Ṭanṭā, al-Gharbīya Governorate, amid a special spiritual mood witnessed every year.
Thousands of followers and visitors from all provinces nationwide flow...
Date of source: 13 Oct 2025
Date of source: 14 Aug 2025
"Allah is lesbian": these three words, written on a T-shirt, landed Ibtissame "Betty" Lachgar (Ibtisām Lashkar) in Arjat prison on Tuesday, August 12 Currently in pre-trial detention, she is being prosecuted for offending the Islamic religion and faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 500,...
Date of source: 10 Oct 2025
Findings from the official report
In 2024, the Ministry of the Interior, then led by Gérald Darmanin (member of Renaissance, a political party typically described as liberal and centrist or center-right), commissioned a group of senior officials, more precisely a retired diplomat and a prefect, to...
Date of source: 16 Jul 2025
Security agencies managed to reach the whereabouts of a young girl who has been reported missing in the governorate of al-Minūfīya, about 64 kilometers north of Cairo.
Investigations showed that she had willingly left her home. She was handed over to her family, which had to sign papers about her...
Date of source: 7 Mar 2025
The Interior Ministry revealed the circumstances surrounding the "disappearance" of a young Coptic girl in Upper Egypt after rumors about her abduction.
Security authorities at the Sūhāg Security Department had received a report on February 24 from the girl’s father claiming that his daughter,...
Date of source: 17 Mar 2025
The Grand Muftī of Egypt, Dr. Naẓīr ʿAyyād, said that the Islamic Sharīʿa is applied in Islamic societies in all its forms, not exclusively in relation only to ḥudūd (punishments for specific crimes determined by the Qur’ān and the ḥadīth), as some extremist groups propagate.
"Islamic law is a...
Date of source: 2 Oct 2025
Societies are based on granting their citizens a reasonable space to help them undertake their socio-economic and political functions through cooperation with the state in order to reach an aspired level of welfare.
Reviewing developing societies and the socio-cultural conditions there, one may...
Date of source: 1 Oct 2025
Egypt’s Dār al-Iftā’ asserted that the Islamic Sharīʿa has always been keen on preserving man’s privacy and made it a key principle as one of the major maqāṣid (purposes) of the Sharīʿa.
Dār al-Iftā’, in an official statement, explained that Islam's prohibition of invading others' privacy is not...
Date of source: 5 Oct 2025
Egypt’s Dār al-Iftā’ resumed sessions at mosques nationwide in coordination with the Ministry of Awqāf (Religious Endowments) as part of its awareness-raising role to spread moderate ways of thinking, rectify misconceptions and encounter some unfavorable phenomena within the society.
This week's...
Date of source: 30 Sep 2025
A member of parliament, Ihāb Ramzī, said Egypt is now using two separate laws on personal status affairs, one for Muslims and another for Christians.
"The personal status law for Christians was prepared by a committee composed of representatives of the different churches and denominations in Egypt...
Date of source: 16 Sep 2025
Minister of Awqāf (Religious Endowments) Dr. Osāma al-Azharī said Dr. ʿAlī Gomʿa, the former grand muftī of Egypt and member of the Azhar’s Council of Senior Scholars, had a great influence on his character.
"My shaykhs at al-Azhar al-Sharif, foremost among them Dr. ʿAlī Gomʿa, greatly influenced...
Date of source: 8 Oct 2025
The current dynamics of intercommunal and interreligious relations in Egypt are the result of numerous historical, social, and political processes, with the current sociopolitical intercommunal climate being shaped historically after the formation of the modern Egyptian state and the Free Officers...
Date of source: 4 Oct 2025
As the House of Representatives elections approach, a new crisis comes to the surface that threatens the participation of a large number of Coptic voters in Upper Egypt, as it coincides with the celebrations of St. George's Monastery in al-Rizīqāt, which are held annually from 10 to 17 November and...
Date of source: 30 Sep 2025
His Eminence Grand Imām Dr. Aḥmad al-Ṭayyib, the Grand Imām of al-Azhar, received today, Tuesday, Prince Raḥīm Āghā Khān, the chief of the Ismaili community and head of the development network, to discuss ways to enhance joint cooperation.
The Grand Imām said that the message of al-Azhar is based...
Date of source: 2 Oct 2025
The White House rejected accusations by Pope Leo XIV that the administration of US President Donald Trump was pursuing an "inhumane" policy towards immigration, asserting that the United States is enforcing the law in the most humane way possible, according to "Agence France-Presse" (AFP).
In a...
Date of source: 7 Oct 2025
Members of Syria's electoral body are meeting on Sunday to vote for new representatives, marking a significant milestone in the country’s transition away from the regime of Bashār al-Assad.
Six thousand voters from regional electoral bodies will cast their ballots in an indirect election starting...
Date of source: 7 Oct 2025
Professor Dr. Aḥmad ʿUmar Hāshim, a member of al-Azhar’s Senior Scholars Authority and former president of al-Azhar University, passed away on Tuesday morning after a prolonged battle with illness.
A post published shortly beforehand on Dr. Aḥmad ʿUmar Hāshim’s official Facebook page mourned his...
Date of source: 30 Sep 2025
Al-Azhar hosted the weekly session of the Jurisprudential Forum "Modern Perspective" under the title "Social Media: Jurisprudential Perspective" with the attendance of Dr. Maḥmūd al-Ṣāwī, former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Media at al-Azhar University, and Dr. ʿAlī al-Mahdī, Secretary of the...
Date of source: 7 Oct 2025
In June 2025, I was able to gain valuable insight into the current situation in Syria after the fall of the Assad government by spending almost two weeks travelling and doing field research in the cities of Damascus, Maʿlūlā, Ṣaydnāyā, Aleppo, al-Raqqa, al-Qāmishlī, and al-Ḥasakah. With its rich...
Date of source: 4 Oct 2025
Most cities of Wādī al-Naṣārā (Valley of Christians) in the countryside of Homs governorate had witnessed a general strike, where the malls and institutions closed their doors, grieving for the two young men who lost their lives in an incident targeting civilians in ʿAnāz and Wādī al-Naṣārā in the...
Date of source: 29 Sep 2025
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, in which he accused Muslim Palestinians of causing the emigration of Christians and claimed that Israel is the true protector of Christianity.
The committee said in an official...
Date of source: 30 Sep 2025
Every day, the scholars of al-Azhar al-Sharīf prove that they remain at the forefront of academics and specialists in their respective fields, consistently maintaining an edge over many of their peers at other universities.
For the second time, Dr. Ṣafāʾ al-Ḥadīdī, Assistant Professor of Ancient...
Date of source: 27 Sep 2025
Today, Saturday, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of the Cross, which commemorates the discovery of the cross in Jerusalem in the fourth century by Queen Helena. The Coptic Church observes this feast annually on 17 Tūt (September 17) and again on 10 Baramhāt (March 10).
On this...
Date of source: 23 Sep 2025
Summary
On September 11th, 2025, CAWU Intern coordinator Luka Renić and intern Bart Evers visited the Monastery of the Virgin Mary, often referred to as Dayr al-Muḥarraq, in Qusqām in the Asyūṭ Governorate, Egypt. At the monastery, we were welcomed by two monks, Abūnā Būlūs and Abūnā Buṭrus. Our...
Date of source: 23 Sep 2025
Date of source: 21 Sep 2025
Presidential spokesman Muḥammad al-Shanāwī announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sīsī received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron to follow up on the outcomes of the virtual summit convened by Macron on September 15. The two leaders discussed regional developments, with...
Date of source: 21 Sep 2025
Terrorism expert Ṭāriq al-Bashbīshī stated that the Muslim Brotherhood continues to cast doubt on the Egyptian state’s capacity to address challenges. He noted that the organization repeatedly resorts to the same old tactics, focusing on influencing public opinion by spreading negative narratives...
Date of source: 16 Sep 2025
Date of source: 16 Sep 2025
LR: First of all, can you describe your background and your work in dialogue in Egypt?
AU: Yes. I am Dr. Aḥmad Usāma Abū Dūmā. I am honored to get engaged in interfaith dialogue at all levels in Egypt—with the grassroots, with intellectuals, with Muslims, and with fathers and bishops of churches....
Date of source: 14 Sep 2025
A researcher of Sufism, Dr. Nūrī Jāsim, clarified the ruling on the use of duffs (frame drums) in religious chanting and praising the Prophet (Mawlid and related occasions), which has come under discussion, particularly in light of recent calls to prohibit their use during the celebrations of the...
Date of source: 13 Sep 2025
Dr. Salāma Dawūd, President of al-Azhar University, attended the graduation ceremony of the 58th class of the Faculty of Sharīʿa and Law at al-Azhar University in Cairo, which was held in the presence of a large number of al-Azhar leaders from both the mosque and the university.
At the opening of...
Date of source: 11 Sep 2025
Mrs. Lina Musharbash, president of the Levant Christians Association in Jordan, stated to Milḥ al-Arḍ (Salt of the Earth) that the Association is in the process of organizing an international conference on religious tourism under the preliminary title "Jordan: Rooted Christianity and an Enduring...
Date of source: 6 Sep 2025
Anbā Nīqūlā, Archbishop of Greek Orthodox Christians in Ṭanṭā, announced that Abbot Damyānūs of Saint Catherine Monastery plans to resign, adding that measures regarding his succession have already started.
"I informed the Greek government on September 3, 2025, of my decisions, which are in line...