Islamic schizophrenia—or merely two-facedness—is making the news again, in Egypt.
At a time when President Sisi and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, are publicly claiming, especially to the West, that Islam does not prohibit the construction of churches, an Arabic language book calling for the destruction of churches was recently exposed (image below).
Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Naquib, a “professor” at Mansoura University, one of Egypt’s large state-owned educational facilities, had supervised the annotation (by an “Islamic researcher”) and reissuance of the book in question, written around 1760 by Sheikh Ahmad al-Damanhouri. True to its outlandish title, “Establishing the Dazzling Argument for the Demolition of Churches in Egypt and Cairo,” (which rhymes “beautifully” in Arabic) the entire book is dedicated to emphasizing that churches have no place in Egypt—formerly a Christian nation conquered by Islam in the seventh century—and must therefore be demolished wherever and whenever they are found.
Sheikh al-Damanhouri wrote this book after some Copts had started building a new church in Cairo, thereby angering local Muslims. The Sheikh, then the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, was asked about building and renovating churches, and he confirmed (in a fatwa) that it was forbidden according to all four schools of Islamic thought (Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali). He also said that it is not permissible to rebuild a church that has been destroyed—even if it was unjustly destroyed.
It bears noting that the professor behind the annotation and reissuance of this book, Sheikh al-Naquib, could not be dismissed as some “fringe radical” (he has since died) as he was a professor at the Educational Studies Faculty of Mansoura University—meaning he, the likes of him, and their ideas, play a major role in training and molding new school teachers.
Be that as it may; perhaps the greater lesson here is that when the story recently came to light by the political writer and thinker Dr. Khalid Montaser, Al Azhar, and its Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb—who are both much more influential than Mansoura University and Sheikh Naquib—responded with absolutely nothing to this latest scandal, thereby implicitly consenting to the message of the book.
Keep in mind, Al Azhar and its “moderate” Grand Imam—who was once praised by the Wall Street Journal for making “one of the most sweeping calls yet for educational reform in the Muslim world to combat the escalation of extremist violence”—are usually never at a loss for words, especially whenever another Islamic source in Egypt contradicts their pronouncements; and, as mentioned, the Grand Imam is on record saying that Islam does not prohibit the building of churches in Egypt.
In reality, the rebukes of Al Azhar and its officials appear to be directed only against those who oppose their “radical” views. As Egyptian talk show host, Ibrahim Eissa, once put it, following news some years back that Al Azhar had refused to denounce ISIS as false Muslims:
It’s amazing. Al Azhar insists ISIS are Muslims and refuses to denounce them. Yet Al Azhar never ceases to shoot out statements accusing novelists, writers, thinkers—anyone who says anything that contradicts their views—of lapsing into a state of infidelity. But not when it comes to ISIS!
Many insiders have accused Al Azhar of teaching and legitimizing the very same atrocities that ISIS commits. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah Nasr, a scholar of Islamic law and Al Azhar graduate once exposed his alma mater in a televised interview thusly:
It [Al Azhar] can’t [condemn the Islamic State as un-Islamic]. The Islamic State is a byproduct of Al Azhar’s programs. So can Al Azhar denounce itself as un-Islamic? Al Azhar says there must be a caliphate and that it is an obligation for the Muslim world [to establish it]. Al Azhar teaches the law of apostasy and killing the apostate. Al Azhar is hostile towards religious minorities, and teaches things like not building churches, etc. Al Azhar upholds the institution of jizya. Al Azhar teaches stoning people. So can Al Azhar denounce itself as un-Islamic?
Similarly, while discussing how the Islamic State burns some of its victims alive—most notoriously, a Jordanian pilot—Egyptian journalist Yusuf al-Husayni remarked on his satellite program that “The Islamic State is only doing what Al Azhar teaches.” He went on to quote from textbooks used in Al Azhar that permit burning people—more specifically, “infidels”—alive.
Is it any wonder, then, that Al Azhar has said nothing about the reissuance of a book that demands the destruction of churches, even though it is in Al Azhar’s power to ban said book?
In fact, there are many such books proliferating throughout Egypt’s educational system, including Al Azhar itself. In 2016, Egyptian lawyer Ahmed ‘Abdu Maher exposed “a book in Al Azhar that calls for the forceful shaving of the heads of the Copts [Egypt’s indigenous Christians], placing a sign on their homes [so Muslims know where the “infidels” reside], and refusing to shake hands with them.”
A year before that, in 2015,the aforementioned Dr. Khalid Montaser, asked in bewilderment: “Is it possible at this sensitive time — when murderous terrorists rest on texts and understandings of takfir, murder, slaughter, and beheading — that Al Azhar magazine is offering free of charge a book whose latter half and every page — indeed every few lines — ends with “whoever disbelieves [infidels] strike off his head”?
No, the reissuance of “Establishing the Dazzling Argument for the Demolition of Churches in Egypt and Cairo” merely reconfirms one thing: Egypt’s most official authorities on Islam, Al Azhar University and its Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb—otherwise known as Pope Francis’s “wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing”—are dedicated to saying one (tolerant but false) thing to the West and non-Muslims, and one (“radical” but true) thing to fellow Muslims.