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Egypt's New Mufti Al Tayeb Replaces Wassel
CAIRO,
March 11 (IslamOnline) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak signed
Sunday a decree naming a new mufti, or top Muslim religious leader,
sending Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel into retirement, the state-owned
daily Al-Akhbar said.
Dr.
Mohammed Ahmed Al-Tayeb, a 56-year-old professor at Al-Azhar
institution -- the highest authority in Sunni Islam -- will replace
Sheikh Wassel, the paper reported in its Monday edition, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
On
his first day at work, Dr. Al Tayeb said that he did not expect to
be Egypt’s Mufti and that he feels that the responsibility that he
now bears is great. He added that it is important to make Islamic
fatwas (rulings) more lenient, while not crossing the boundaries of
Islamic Sharia.
Fatwas,
he said, must be general and changeable according to the changes of
time, all within the jurisprudence rulings based on the Holy Quran
and Sunna (Prophetic tradition).
He
also said that it was a religious duty to co-ordinate with other
Islamic organizations in issuing the fatwas so as not to confuse
people, adding that he will not issue fatwas for major questions by
himself but will send them to the Islamic Research Center and other
Islamic organizations abroad if possible.
Wassel,
the previous mufti, was appointed on November 10, 1996 and he issued
several fatwas, which have been considered controversial such as his
fatwa concerning smoking, in which he said it was not permitted for
any Muslim to persist on smoking and he equated it with drinking
alcohol.
He
also issued fatwas prohibiting television game shows, which select
participants through phone calls paid by the participant. This
raised major concerns surrounding shows such as “Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire?” He also considered those, who get involved in dollar
speculation, as being involved in fraud and cheating.
Speaking
to IslamOnline’s correspondent, a source in the Al Azhar Scholars
Committee said that Wassel was well known for his dignified stances
such as “refusing to meet Zionist figures and his call for
Jihad”. He announced for the first time that Wassel is a member of
this association.
He
said that the he feels that the reason he has been sent into
retirement was for a statement that was published in Egyptian
Newspaper Al Haqiqa last week, in which he said that it is every
Muslim’s duty to launch a jihad against those who protect the
aggressors.
“It
is not strange that this has happened because we have heard reports
that there is a list of 150 ulama (scholars) names from all around
the world on Bush’s desk. These scholars’ careers are to be
stopped,” he said.
He
added that no Mufti in Egypt has ever been asked to retire since
Mohamad Khatter in the 1970s, and they all have been given
extensions for their duty period.
Al-Azhar
Scholars committee was formed in May 1946 and included prominent
Muslim Scholars such as Al Tayeb Al Najar, Ibrahim Abul Khashab and
Mohamad Abu Zahra. It gained media momentum when it opposed the
International conference For Population and Development (ICPD)
meeting, which was held in Cairo in May 1994. This was the same
stance as the Al Azhar. However, the mufti at the time, supported
the conference.
It
also issued a statement in April 1997 supporting the Hamas martyrs
and also in 1997 opposed Tantawi’s meeting with the Israeli
ambassador and a Jewish rabbi, the source said.
The
Al Azhar House of Fatwa was established in November 1895 and has had
17 muftis so far.
Mubarak
is tasked with signing the mandate for the country's mufti each
year.
Dr. Al-Tayeb was born in Luxor, in 1946, graduated from faculty of
Islamic Theology in 1969. Eight years later, he obtained his Ph.D.
and was appointed as College teacher in 1988. Dr. Al-Tayeb worked as
dean of the faculty of Islamic Studies in Aswan, then, held the post
in the Theology Faculty, International Islamic University, in
Islamabad, Pakistan. He also taught at Islamic universities in Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Additional
Reporting By Subhi Mujahed, IOL Correspondent in Egypt
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