Ahmed El-Tayeb أحمد الطيب | |
|---|---|
 Ahmed El-Tayeb in 2025 | |
| Grand Imam of al-Azhar &Al-Azhar Al Sharif | |
| Assumed office 10 March 2010 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak Mohamed Hussein Tantawy(Acting) Mohamed Morsi Abdel Fattah el-Sisi |
| Preceded by | Mohamed Sayed Tantawy |
| Grand Mufti of Egypt | |
| In office 10 March 2002 – 27 September 2003 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak |
| Preceded by | Nasr Farid Wasil |
| Succeeded by | Ali Gomaa |
| President of Al-Azhar University | |
| In office 2003–2010 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak |
| Preceded by | Ahmad Omar Hashem |
| Succeeded by | Abdallah al-Husseini |
Ahmed el-Tayeb | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb (1946-01-06)6 January 1946 (age 79) |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Alma mater | Al-Azhar University Paris-Sorbonne University |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Maliki |
| Creed | Ash'ari |
| Movement | Sufism |
Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb (Arabic:أحمد محمد أحمد الطيب; born 6 January 1946) is an EgyptianIslamic scholar and the currentGrand Imam of al-Azhar,al-Azhar al-Sharif and former president ofal-Azhar University. He was appointed by the Egyptian President,Hosni Mubarak, following the death ofMohamed Sayed Tantawy in 2010.[1] He is fromKurna,Luxor Governorate inUpper Egypt, and he belongs to aSunni Muslim family.[2]
El-Tayeb studied Doctrine and Philosophy atAl-Azhar University, where he graduated in 1969, after that he had a master's degree and Ph.D. in Islamic philosophy in 1971 and 1977 respectively. Later on, he went to study at theUniversity of Paris for six months, from December 1977 to 1978. Afterwards, he held academic posts at Al-Azhar University, then administrative roles inQena andAswan, and worked at theInternational Islamic University, Islamabad in Pakistan in 1999–2000.[3]
Between 2002 and 2003, El-Tayeb served asGrand Mufti of Egypt.[4] El-Tayeb is a hereditary Sufi shaykh from Upper Egypt and has expressed support for a global Sufi league.[5][6] He was president ofAl-Azhar University from 2003 until 2010.[7][8]
Prior to his appointment as the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and president of al-Azhar University, he was a member of Mubarak'sNational Democratic Party's Policies Committee.[1] He initially refused to resign from his position in the National Democratic Party (NDP) by saying that there was no conflict between his role at Al-Azhar and membership in the party.[9]
In April 2010, he resigned from his post in the party.[10]
In an article published shortly after his appointment as president of Al-Azhar University, he was described as "a regime loyalist and member of Mr. Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party [who] takes a firm stance against the Muslim Brotherhood".
El-Tayeb was quoted as saying that Al-Azhar University would "never be an open field for the Brotherhood".[1]
The same article reported that the Muslim Brotherhood's leader,Mohammed Badie, had congratulated El-Tayeb on his appointment. At the same time, the Brotherhood senior member, Sheikh Sayed Askar, also anAzharite, accused the government of "promoting one of its own at the expense of people better suited to the post".[1]
Criticism intensified after the 2011Egyptian Revolution. Some Muslim Brotherhood members accused him of being "a remnant of the ousted Mubarak regime and National Democratic Party".[11]
In 2011, following the Egyptian revolution, theMuslim Brotherhood held a rally at theAl-Azhar mosque to oppose what it described as theJudaization of Jerusalem. He said at the rally that "theal-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews" and "we shall not allow theZionists to Judaize al-Quds [Jerusalem]". He also alleged that Jews around the world were trying to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity.[12][13]
He backed themilitary coup against Egyptian PresidentMohamed Morsi.[14]
He has strongly rebuked theSunni anti-Alawite preaching, which has increased since the SyrianBashar al-Assad regime cracked down on theSunni Muslim rebels in theSyrian Civil War.[15]
He has strongly condemned theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant and stated that it is acting "under the guise of this holy religion and have given themselves the name 'Islamic State' in an attempt to export their false Islam"[16][17] and (citing theQuran).
"The punishment for those who wage war against God and his Prophet and who strive to sow corruption on earth is death, crucifixion, the severing of hands and feet on opposite sides or banishment from the land. This is the disgrace for them in this world and in the hereafter they will receive grievous torment".
He has been criticized for not expressly stating that Islamic State was heretical.[18][19] TheAsh'ari school ofIslamic theology – to which El-Tayeb belongs – does not allow calling a person who follows theshahada anapostate.[18]
El-Tayeb has strongly come out against the practice oftakfirism, declaring a Muslim an apostate, which is used by Islamic State to "judge and accuse anyone who doesn't toe their line with apostasy and outside the realm of the faith" and declares "jihad on peaceful Muslims" by using "flawed interpretations of some Qur'anic texts, the prophet'sSunnah, and the Imams' views, believing incorrectly that they are leaders of Muslim armies fighting infidel peoples in unbelieving lands".[20]
In late 2016, ata conference of over a hundred Sunni scholars in Chechnya, El-Tayeb defined orthodox Sunnism as "theAsh'arites andMaturidites (adherents of the theological systems of ImamAbu Mansur al-Maturidi and ImamAbul Hasan al-Ash'ari) ... followers of any of the four schools of thought (Hanafi,Shafi'i,Maliki orHanbali) and ... also the followers of theSufism of ImamJunaid al-Baghdadi in doctrines, manners and [spiritual] purification."[21] Having said that, SheikhAhmad el-Tayeb excluded the “Salafis” from the term ofAhluls Sunna (Sunnis) stating that Salafis – also known as Wahhabis – are not from among the Sunnis.[21] The conference was believed to have been designed to take an "uncompromising stand against the growing Takfiri terrorism that is playing havoc across the world."[21]
On 7 November 2017, he metPope Francis in the Vatican, to discuss spreading the culture of peace and coexistence and renouncing extremism and Islamophobia.[22] In February 2019, they met again inAbu Dhabi during the Pope's visit to the United Arab Emirates,[23] where he also signed theDocument on Human Fraternity. On 15 November 2019, they met again in the Vatican, to achieve the goals of the signed document.[24] This text later inspired the UN resolution that designated February 4 as theInternational Day of Human Fraternity.[25][26]
He wrote that Islam forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims, because the latter do not believe inMuhammad and his religion, meanwhile Muslim men would allow their non-Muslim women to practice their religion freely.[27]
In May 2021, he wrote onTwitter: "A woman is permitted to assume senior positions such as in the judiciary or the issuing offatwas and is also allowed to travel without a guardian", then he added, "there is “no such as thing" as 'Bait Al-Ta’a' (House of Obedience) in Islam, and that guardians have "no right" to prevent women from marrying without adequate reasons."[28]
Media related toAhmed el-Tayeb at Wikimedia Commons
| Sunni Islam titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nasr Farid Wasil | Grand Mufti of Egypt 2002-2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque 2010–Present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
