TheAl-Azhar University (/ˈɑːzhɑːr/AHZ-har;Arabic:جامعة الأزهر,romanized: Jami'at al-Azhar,IPA:[ˈɡæmʕetelˈʔɑzhɑɾeʃʃæˈɾiːf]) is apublic university inCairo, Egypt. Associated withAl-Azhar Al-Sharif inIslamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities forIslamic learning.[4][5] In addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students.[6] As of 1996,[update] over 4,000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the university.[7]
Founded in 970 or 972 by theFatimid Caliphate as a centre of Islamic learning, its students studied theQur'an andIslamic law, along with logic, grammar, rhetoric, and how to calculate the phases of the moon. Today it is the chief centre ofArabic literature andIslamic learning in the world.[8] In 1961 additional non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.[9]
Its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to theEgyptian National Library and Archives.[10] In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a Dubai information technology enterprise, IT Education Project (ITEP) launched the H.H.Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum project to preserve Al-Azhar scripts and publish them online (the "Al-Azhar Online Project") to eventually publish online access to the library's entire rare manuscripts collection, comprising about seven million pages of material.[11][12]
Al-Azhar is one of the relics of theIsma'ili Shi'aFatimid dynasty, which claimed descent fromFatimah, daughter ofMuhammad and wife ofAli, son-in-law, and cousin of Muhammad. Fatimah was calledal-Zahra (the luminous), and the institution was named in her honor.[13] It was founded as a mosque by the Fatimid commanderJawhar al-Siqilli at the orders of the Caliph and ImamAl-Mu'izz li-Din Allah as he founded the city for Cairo. It was begun (probably on Saturday) inJumada al-Awwal in the yearAH 359 (March/April 970 CE). Its building was completed on the 9th of Ramadan in AH 361 (24 June 972 CE). Both Caliphal-Aziz Billah and CaliphAl-Hakim bi-Amr Allah added to its premises. It was further repaired, renovated, and extended byal-Mustansir Billah andal-Hafiz li-Din Allah.[14]
Prayer hall of Al-Azhar Mosque
The Fatimid caliphs always encouraged scholars and jurists to have their study-circles and gatherings in this mosque and thus it was turned into a madrasa which has the claim to be considered as the oldest such institution still functioning.[14][15] The mosque provided teaching on a variety of subjects from a variety of scholars.[16] According to Syed Farid Alatas, these subjects includedIslamic law andjurisprudence,Arabic grammar,Islamic astronomy,Islamic philosophy, andlogic.[17] Under the Fatimids, Al-Azhar also notably promotedShia Islam.[18][19]
In the 12th century, following the overthrow of theIsma'iliFatimid dynasty,Saladin (the founder of the SunniAyyubid dynasty) converted Al-Azhar to aShafi'iteSunni center of learning.[8][20] Therefore, "he had all the treasures of the palace, including the books, sold over a period of ten years. Many were burned, thrown into theNile, or thrown into a great heap, which was covered with sand, so that a regular "hill of books" was formed and the soldiers used to sole their shoes with the fine bindings. The number of books said to have been disposed of varies from 120,000 to 2,000,000."[21][22]Abd-el-latif deliveredlectures onIslamic medicine at Al-Azhar, while according to legend theJewish philosopherMaimonides delivered lectures on medicine and astronomy there during the time of Saladin though no historical proof has corroborated this.[23]
Saladin introduced the college system in Egypt, which was also adopted in Al-Azhar. Under this system, the college was a separate institution within the mosque compound, with its own classrooms, dormitories and a library.[24]
Under the Mamluks, Al-Azhar gained influence and rose in prestige.[25]The Mamluks established salaries for instructors and stipends for the students and gave the institution an endowment.[24] A college was built for the institution in 1340, outside of the mosque. In the late 1400s, the buildings were renovated and new dormitories were built for the students.[24]
During this time Cairo had 70 other institutions of Islamic learning, however, Al-Azhar attracted many scholars due to its prestige.Ibn Khaldun taught at Al-Azhar starting in 1383.[25]
During this time texts were few and much of the learning happened by students memorizing their teachers' lectures and notes. Blind young boys were enrolled at Al-Azhar in the hopes that they could eventually earn a living as teachers.[24]
The Gate of the Barbers, one of the entrances to the mosque embellished during theOttoman period
During theOttoman period, Al-Azhar's prestige and influence grew to the point of becoming the preeminent institution for Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world.[25] During this time, theShaykh Al-Azhar was established, an office given to the leadingscholar at the institution; prior to this the head of the institution was not necessarily a scholar.[26] In 1748, the Ottoman pasha tried to get Al-Azhar to teach astronomy and mathematics, to little avail.[24]
During the time there wasn't a system of academic degrees, instead theshaykh (professor) determined if the student was sufficiently trained to enter a professor (ijazah). The average length of study was 6 years. Despite the lack of bureaucracy, the training remained rigorous and prolonged.[24] Students were loosely organized intoriwaq (a sort offraternity) organized according to their nationality and branch of Islamic law they studied. Eachriwaq was supervised by a professor. A rector, usually a senior professor, oversaw the finances.[24]
By the mid 19th century, al-Azhar had surpassedIstanbul and was considered the capital of Sunni legal expertise;[27] a main centre of power in the Islamic world; and a rival to Damascus, Mecca and Baghdad.
When theKingdom of Egypt was established in 1923, the signing of the new nation'sconstitution was delayed because ofKing Fuad I's insistence that Al-Azhar and other religious institutions were to be subject to him and not the Egyptian parliament.[28] TheKing Fuad I Edition of theQur'an[29] was first published on 10 July 1924 by a committee from Al-Azhar University[30] Prominent committee members included Islamic scholar, Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Husayni al-Haddad. Noteworthy Western scholars/academics working in Egypt at the time includeBergsträsser andJeffery. Methodological differences aside, speculation alludes to a spirit of cooperation. Bergsträsser was certainly impressed with the work.[31]
In March 1924,Abdülmecid II had beendeposed as Caliph, nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Sunni Muslims across the world.[32] TheGrand Sheikh of al-Azhar repudiated the abolition[33] and was part of a call from Al-Azhar for an Islamic conference. The unsuccessful "caliphate conference" was held under the presidency of the Grand Chancellor of Azhar in 1926[34][35] but no one was able to gain a consensus for the candidacy across the Islamic world. Candidates proposed for the caliphate included King Fuad.[34][35]
The pioneering Pakistani journalistZaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah became the first woman to address the university in 1955. In 1961, Al-Azhar was re-established as a university under the government of Egypt's second PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser when a wide range of secular faculties were added for the first time, such asbusiness,economics,science,pharmacy,medicine,engineering andagriculture. Before that date, theEncyclopaedia of Islam classifies the Al-Azhar variously as madrasa, center of higher learning and, since the 19th century, religious university, but not as a university in the full sense, referring to the modern transition process as "from madrasa to university".[9][36] Other academic sources also refer to al-Azhar as a madrasa in pre-modern times before its transformation into a university.[37][38][39] An Islamic women's faculty was also added in the same year.[40]
Since assuming office in 2014, Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi has called on religious institutions, including Al-Azhar, to reform religious discourse in an effort to counter extremist ideologies that emerged in the aftermath of theArab Spring uprisings.[41]
In August 2021, forty-three Al-Azhar clerics stationed inAfghanistan since 2009 under an agreement with the Afghan Ministry of Education, were evacuated after theTaliban takeover of Kabul.[42]
Historically, Al-Azhar had a membership that represented diverse opinions within Islam. The theological schools of al-Ash'ari and al-Maturidi were both represented. It has a long tradition of teaching all four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi,Maliki,Shafi, andHanbali). The chiefmufti of each school of thought acted as thedean, responsible for the teachers and students in that group.[43] During the time of the Ottomans, the Hanafi dean came to hold a position asprimus inter pares.[43] It also had membership from the seven mainSufi orders.[44] Al-Azhar has had an antagonistic relationship withWahhabism.[45] According to a 2011 report issued by theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, Al Azhar is stronglySufi in character:
Adherence to a Sufi order has long been standard for both professors and students in the al-Azhar mosque and university system. Although al-Azhar is not monolithic, its identity has been strongly associated with Sufism. The current Shaykh al-Azhar (rector of the school),Ahmed el-Tayeb, is a hereditary Sufi shaykh from Upper Egypt who has recently expressed his support for the formation of a world Sufi league; the former Grand Mufti of Egypt and senior al-Azhar scholarAli Gomaa is also a highly respected Sufi master.[46]
However, in the early 20th century,enlightened Modernist thinkers such asMuhammad Abduh led a reform of the curriculum, reintroducing a desire for legal reform throughijtihad.[47][48] Subsequently, disputes were had between modernist intellectuals and traditionalists within al-Azhar.[49] Al-Azhar now maintains amodernist position, advocating "Wasatiyya" (centrism), a reaction against the extreme textualism of manyWahhabiSalafi ideologues. Wasatiyya covers a range of thinkers, some of whom are liberal intellectuals with religious inclinations, preachers such asYusuf al-Qaradawi and many members of theMuslim Brotherhood. Since the2013 coup however, Al-Azhar has taken a position against the brotherhood.[50]
The nineteenth and current Grand Mufti of Egypt and Al Azhar scholar, isShawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam. The university is opposed to overt liberal reform of Islam and issued afatwa against the liberalIbn Rushd-Goethe mosque inBerlin because it banned face-covering veils such as burqa and niqab on its premises while allowing women and men to pray together. The fatwa encompassed all present and futureliberal mosques.[51]
Al-Azhar University's Council of Senior Scholars was founded in 1911 but was replaced in 1961 by the Center for Islamic Research. In July 2012, after the law restricting Al-Azhar University's autonomy was modified by the incoming presidentMohamed Morsi, the council was reformed.[52] The Council consists of 40 members and as of February 2013 had 14 vacancies[53] all appointed by the current imam of Al-Azhar,Ahmed El-Tayeb,[54] who was appointed by the prior president,Hosni Mubarak. Once the remaining 14 vacancies are filled, new vacancies will be appointed by the existing Council itself.[53] All fourmadhahib (schools) ofSunni Islamic jurisprudence are proportionally represented on the council (Hanafi,Shafi'i,Hanbali,Maliki) and voting is on a majority basis.[52] In addition to El-Tayeb, other prominent members of the Council include the outgoing Grand MuftiAli Gomaa.[55] The council is tasked with nominating theGrand Mufti of Egypt (subject to presidential approval), electing the nextGrand Imam ofAl-Azhar Mosque, and is expected to be the final authority in determining if new legislation is compliant with Islamic law.[52] Although the council's decisions are not binding (absent new legislation), it is expected that it would be difficult for the parliament to pass legislation deemed by the council as against Islamic law.[52]
In January 2013, Al-Tayeb referred a relatively minor issue related to Islamic bonds to the council, for the first time asserting the council's jurisdiction.[52] In 2013, the Council electedShawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam to be the next Grand Mufti of Egypt. This marks the first time that the Grand Mufti would be elected by Islamic scholars since the position was created in 1895. Prior to this, the Egyptian head of state made the appointment.[54]
Al-Azhar'smuftis have a history of being consulted on political issues.Muhammad Ali Pasha appointed Al-Azhar muftis to theConsultative Council in 1829 and this would be repeated byAbbas I and laterIsma'il Pasha. At the same time, there were many cases where the Egyptian ruler would disregard the opinion of Al-Azhar scholars.[43]SheikhMuhammad Sayyid Tantawy noted that among the priorities of Muslims are "to master all knowledge of the world and the hereafter, not least the technology of modern weapons to strengthen and defend the community and faith". He added that "mastery over modern weaponry is important to prepare for any eventuality or prejudices of the others, although Islam is a religion of peace".[56]
Sheikh Tantawy also reasserted that his is the best faith to follow and that Muslims have the duty of activeda'wa. He has made declarations about Muslims interacting with non-Muslims who are not a threat to Muslims. There are non-Muslims living apart from Muslims and who are not enemies of Islam ("Muslims are allowed to undertake exchanges of interests with these non-Muslims so long as these ties do not tarnish the image of the faith"), and there are "the non-Muslims who live in the same country as the Muslims in cooperation and on friendly terms, and are not enemies of the faith" ("in this case, their rights and responsibilities are the same as the Muslims so long as they do not become enemies of Islam"). Shi'afiqh (according to a fatwa by Al-Azhar)[57] is accepted as a fifthschool of Islamic thought.
In October 2007,Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, then the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, drew allegations of stifling freedom of speech when he asked the Egyptian government to toughen its rules and punishments against journalists. During a Friday sermon in the presence ofEgyptian Prime MinisterAhmed Nazif and a number of ministers, Tantawy was alleged to have stated that journalism which contributes to the spread of false rumours rather than true news deserved to be boycotted, and that it was tantamount to sinning for readers to purchase such newspapers. Tantawy, a supporter of then Egyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak, also called for a punishment of eighty lashes to "those who spread rumors" in an indictment of speculation by journalists over Mubarak's ill health and possible death.[58][59] This was not the first time that he had criticized the Egyptian press regarding its news coverage nor the first time he in return had been accused by the press of opposing freedom of speech. During a religious celebration in the same month, Tantawy had released comments alluding to "the arrogant and the pretenders who accuse others with the ugliest vice and unsubstantiated charges". In response, Egypt's press union issued a statement suggesting that Tantawy appeared to be involved in inciting and escalating a campaign against journalists and freedom of the press.[60] Tantawy died in 2010 and was succeeded byMohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb.
In 2016Ahmed el-Tayeb reissuedthe fatwa on Shia Muslims, calling Shia the fifth school of Islam and seeing no problem with conversions from Sunni to Shia Islam.[61] However, the NGOs report that violence and propaganda against the country's Shia minority continues. Shia Muslims are frequently denied services in addition to being called derogatory names. Anti-Shia sentiment is spread through education at all levels. Clerics educated at Al-Azhar University publicly promote sectarian beliefs by calling Shia Muslims infidels and encourage isolation and marginalization ofShia Muslims in Egypt.[62][63]
Scholars from Al-Azhar declared the writings toFarag Foda to be blasphemous.[64] Muhammad al-Ghazali, a member of Al-Azhar, declared Foda to be guilty ofapostasy.[64] According toGeneive Abdo, Muhammad al-Ghazali also added that anyone killing an apostate would not be punished, while according toNathan Brown, Muhammad al-Ghazali stopped just short of condoning Foroda's assassination.[65] Foda was assassinated in June 1992,[66][67] by an Egyptian terrorist groupal-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, who claimed justification from Al-Azhar's fatwas.[68] In response, a scholar at Al-Azhar publishedMan Qatala Faraj Fawda.[69]
Syed Mujtaba Ali (1904–1974, aged 69), Bangladeshi author, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist; studied at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo during 1934–1935.
Dr.Ayub Ali (1919–1995, aged 75/76), Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and educationist.
Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah (1918–2000, aged 81), Pakistani feminist and journalist who in 1955 became the first woman to give a speech at the university.
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941–1989, aged 48), Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar, theologian, founder of the terrorist groupAl-Qaeda, assassinated in unsolved car bombing.
Abdel-Halim Mahmoud (1901–1978, aged 77), Egyptian philosopher and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, introduced the study ofSufism as a science through his writings and lectures on the matter.[citation needed]
Muhammad Ali Shihab Tangal (1936–2009, aged 73), Indian community leader, Islamic religious leader and scholar, politician. President of the Kerala state committee of theIndian Union Muslim League (1975-death).
Mustafa Khattab, Canadian–Egyptian Muslim scholar, author, youth mentor, public speaker, imam, and university chaplain. English translator of theQur'an and author of 'The Clear Quran' Series.
^Aishah Ahmad Sabki (2018).Pedagogy in Islamic Education: The Madrasah Context.Emerald Group Publishing. p. 16.
^Brown, Nathan J. (September 2011).Post-Revolutionary al-Azhar(PDF). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. p. 4. Retrieved4 April 2015.
^Roy, Olivier (2004).Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. Columbia University Press. pp. 92–93.ISBN978-0-231-13499-6. Retrieved4 April 2015.In Egypt the number of teaching institutes dependent on Al-Azhar University increased from 1855 in 1986–7 to 4314 in 1995–6.
^ab"Al-Azhar University".Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved2015-08-19.
^abSkovgaard-Petersen, Jakob. "al-Azhar, modern period."Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas and Everett Rowson. Brill, 2010, retrieved 20/03/2010:
Al-Azhar, the historic centre of higher Islamic learning in Cairo, has undergone significant change since the late 19th century, with new regulations and reforms resulting in an expanded role for the university. 1. From madrasa to university
^Hassan, S. F. (2016). "Al-Azhar: The Challenge of Reforming Religious Education in Egypt".Education and the Arab Spring. Brill. pp. 129–149.ISBN978-94-6300-471-8.al-Azhar was the center where the Shia ideology of the Fatimids was advocated
^Abdullayev, Z. (2023)."Al-Azhar Madras".Innovations of Modern Scientific Development in the Age of Globalization: Problems and Solutions.1 (2):39–40.
^The Times,Egyptian Constitution Delay. 19 April 1923
^Brill, "[ <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_intro> Supplement II - Qurʾān Concordance]", in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Consulted online on 10 July 2020
^Stefan Wild, "basmallah"The Quran: an Encyclopedia,Routledge
^Reynolds, "Quranic studies and its controversies", 2008
^Jomier, J. "al- Azhar (al-Ḏj̲āmiʿ al-Azhar)." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2010, retrieved 20/03/2010:
This great mosque, the 'brilliant one' ... is one of the principal mosques of present-day Cairo. This seat of learning ... regained all its activity—Sunnī from now on—during the reign of Sultan Baybars. ... Al-Azhar at the beginning of the 19th century could well have been called a religious university; what it was not was a complete university giving instruction in those modern disciplines essential to the awakening of the country.
^Lulat, Y. G.-M. (2005).A history of African higher education from antiquity to the present: a critical synthesis. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. p. 70.ISBN0-313-32061-6.OCLC57243371.As for the nature of its curriculum, it was typical of other major madrasahs such as al-Azhar and Al Quaraouiyine, though many of the texts used at the institution came from Muslim Spain. Al Quaraouiyine began its life as a small mosque constructed in 859 C.E. by means of an endowment bequeathed by a wealthy woman of much piety, Fatima bint Muhammed al-Fahri.
^Brown, Nathan J. (1997).The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf. Cambridge University Press. p. 114.While he [Muhammad al-Ghazali] stopped just short of condoning Fawda's assassination, his testimony also implied that the government was operating outside the bounds of Islam...
al-Azhar University: university, Cairo, Egypt(Subscription), inEncyclopædia Britannica Online, by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Laura Etheredge, Neha Parwani and Emily Rodriguez
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