Al-Azhar University (pronounced "AZ-har", ;
, "the Noble Azhar") in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, founded in 970~972, is the chief centre of
Arabic literatureArabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature...
and Sunni
Islamic learningIslamic studies is an ambiguous term. In a Muslim context, "Islamic studies" can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge. As such it includes all the traditional forms of religious thought, such as Islamic...
in the world and the
world's second oldest surviving degree granting university. It is associated with Al-Azhar
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
in
Islamic CairoIslamic Cairo is a part of central Cairo noted for its historically important mosques and other Islamic monuments. It is overlooked by the Cairo Citadel....
. The university's mission includes the propagation of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic religion and culture. To this end, its Islamic scholars (
ulemaUlema refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
s) render edicts (
fatwaA fatwā , in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwa is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be binding, depending on the status of the scholar...
s) on disputes submitted to them from all over the Sunni Islamic world regarding proper conduct for
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
individuals or societies (a recent example being the clarification and thus prohibition of female genital cutting). Al-Azhar also trains Egyptian government appointed preachers in proselytization (
da'wa).
Its
libraryA library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. It can mean the collection,...
is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the
Egyptian National Library and ArchivesThe Egyptian National Library and Archives in Cairo is the largest library in Egypt. The second largest are the libraries of Al-Azhar University and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina ....
. In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a Dubai information technology enterprise,
ITEP launched the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Project to Preserve Al Azhar Scripts and Publish Them Online (the "Al-Azhar Online Project") with the mission of eventually providing online access to the library's entire rare manuscripts collection (comprising about seven million pages).
History
Al-Azhar university concerns itself with the religious syllabus, which pays special attention to the Quranic sciences and traditions of the prophet on the one hand, while on the other hand the university teaches all the modern fields of science. Thus, the university has not only fulfilled its obligations in these two fields of study but also fulfilled its obligations towards the Arabic language, which is the language of the Holy Quran. In 1961, according to Al-Azhar university's legislatory law No. 103, new colleges of applied sciences, such as the faculties of Medicine and Engineering, were introduced to Al-Azhar university. These newly introduced faculties are not duplicates of their counterparts in other universities because they combine the empirical sciences with the religious sciences. Alongside the Egyptian students who are studying at Al-Azhar university, there are also many other students from various Islamic and European countries. These foreign Muslim students have exactly the same rights as the Egyptian students.
The university was founded by the
FatimidThe Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is...
dynasty of Egypt, descended from
FatimahFatimah was a daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from his first wife Khadija. Sheis regarded by Muslims as an exemplar for men and women. She remained at her father's side through the difficulties suffered by him at the hands of the Quraysh of Mecca...
, daughter of the Prophet
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
. Fatimah was called
Az-Zahra (the brilliant), and the university was named in her honor.
Studies began at Al-Azhar in the month of
RamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset...
, 975 AD. The university (
Jami'ahMadrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
) had
facultiesA faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
in
Islamic lawSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
and
jurisprudenceFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
,
Arabic grammarArabic grammar is the grammar of the Classical and Modern Standard Arabic. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages.-History:...
,
Islamic astronomyIn the history of astronomy, Islamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy refers to the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia,...
,
Islamic philosophyEarly Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH...
, and
logicLogic played an important role in Islamic philosophy. Islamic law and jurisprudence placed importance on formulating standards of argument, which gave rise to a novel approach to logic in Kalam, as seen in the method of qiyas...
. In the 12th century, following the overthrow of the Shia
FatimidThe Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is...
dynasty, Sultan
SaladinṢalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
(the founder of the staunchly Sunni
Ayyubid DynastyThe Ayyubids were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin centered in Cairo and Damascus that ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they gradually gained...
) converted Al-Azhar to a Shafi'ite Sunni center of learning.
Abd-el-latifAbd-al-latif, Abd-el-latif or Abd-ul-Latif , also known as al-Baghdadi , born in Baghdad, Iraq, was a celebrated physician, historian, Egyptologist and traveller, and one of the most voluminous writers of the Near East in his time.-Biography:An interesting memoir of Abdallatif, written by himself,...
delivered
lecturethumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s on
Islamic medicineIn the history of medicine, Islamic medicine or Arabic medicine refers to medicine developed in the medieval Islamic civilization and written in Arabic, the lingua franca of the Islamic civilization. Despite these names, a significant number of scientists during this period were not Arab...
at Al-Azhar, while
MaimonidesMoses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam , was born in Cordoba, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204....
delivered lectures on medicine and astronomy there during the time of Saladin.
In 1961, Al-Azhar was reorganised under the government of Egypt's second President
Gamal Abdel NasserGamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. He led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which removed King Farouk I and heralded a new period of industrialization in Egypt, together with a profound advancement of Arab nationalism, including a short-lived...
and several secular faculties were added to the university, such as medicine, engineering and agriculture. An Islamic women's faculty was also added in the same year, six years after
Zaib-un-Nissa HamidullahZaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah was a Bengali pioneer of Pakistani literature and journalism in English, and also a pioneer of feminism in Pakistan, West Pakistan till 1971...
had been the first woman to speak at the university.
More about History
When Jawhar the Sicilian, commander of the Fatimid troops sent by the Fatimid Caliph Almuiz to conquer Egypt, founded Cairo in 358 AH / 969 SD he built Al-Azhar mosque. The mosque was completed in nearly two years. It was first opened for prayers on 7th of Ramadan 361 A.H/ June 22, 972 AD. Since then it has become the most well-known mosque in the whole Muslim World, and the oldest university ever for both religious and secular studies.
Historians differ as to how the mosque got its name. Some hold that it is called as such because it was surrounded by flourishing mansions at the time when Cairo was founded. Others believe that it was by then considered as a good omen of the high status which the mosque was going to attain as a result of the flourishing studies being conducted in the mosque. A third group believe that it was named after "Fatima al-Zahraa" the daughter of Prophet Mohamed, to glorify her name. This last explanation sounds the most likely as Fatimids themselves were called after her.
The Beginning of the Scholarly activities at Al-Azhar: Three and half years after its establishment, Al-Azhar began to acquire its academic and scholastic nature. It was in Ramadan, 365 AH (October 975 AD) during the reign of Al-Muiz when chief justice Abu El-Hassan Ali ibn Al-Nu'man El-Kairawany sat in the court of Al-Azhar and read "El-ikhtisar" a book written by his father Abu Hanifa Al-Nu'man as a reference on Shi'ite law (fiqh). This happened in the presence of a large audience whose names were recorded in memorial of the occasion. Abu El-Hassan was the first to be given the title chief Justice. This was the first Seminar to be held at Al-Azhar which was followed by many others. Those seminars were religious, however they had political overtones. At the beginning of the reign of Al-Aziz Billah, Al-Azhar made great strides towards real academic studies. Jacob ibn Killis, the minister of Al-Mu'eiz and later of Al-Aziz read his 'Al-Risalah Al-Azizyah' on Shi'ite law. He later developed studies at Al-Azhar when he appointed thirty seven Jurists. He gave them monthly salaries and build them houses near Al-Azhar. During the Fatimid period, Al-Azhar was an essential part of the intellectual life. Beside the usual seminars, moral education sessions were held for women. Al-Azhar was also the official seat of judges on certain days and the accountant or chief tax collector "Muhtasib" for nearly two centuries. Since the collapse of Islamic Cultural Centres in Baghdad and Andalusia at the greatest centre for Arabic and Islamic studies all over the world.
Right from the beginning, the seminars held at Al-Azhar were of purely academic nature. They were inherently characterized by free scientific discussions and scholarships. There was also the system of instructors and visiting professors. Such activities worked later as the foundations of the University academic system, which became known later in both East and west. Hence, Al-Azhar has duly come to be known as the oldest religious university all over the world.
Although Al-Azhar ceased to function either as a university or as a mosque for nearly a century, during the Ayyubid reign studies were conducted in the same way as they were during the Fatimid period. However, they were mainly religious and linguistic. During the Mamluks period 648-922 A.H/ 1250-1517 A.D, Al-Azhar assumed new responsibilities towards the Muslim world.
As a result of Mughul attacks on central Asia and the shrinkage of Muslim rule in Andalusia, Al-Azhar became the only shelter for the scholars who were forced out of their homeland. Those scholars helped Al-Azhar to reach the apex of its glory during the eighth and ninth centuries A.H (14th and 15th centuries A.D). It should be mentioned here that Al-Azhar played an important role in the development of natural sciences. Some of Al-Azhar scholars studied medicine, mathematics, Astronomy, geography and history. They put much effort to advance these sciences even in times of political and intellectual deterioration and stagnation.
Under the Ottomans, Al-Azhar was financially independent because of the Waqfs (endowments), the scholars were free to choose their fields of study and the text books. Thus Al-Azhar had its own free identity and became a leading Islamic and Arabic centre.
It attracted many teachers as well as many students from all over the Islamic world. It is worth mentioning that the Ottomans never appointed one of them as Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. This high position entirely left for the Egyptians. When Bonaparte attacked Egypt in (1213 A.H / July 1789 A.D) he looked upon Al-Azhar as the most well-known university in the whole Islamic world. During his exile at Saint. Helena he wrote in his dairy that Al-Azhar was the counterpart of Sorbonne in Paris. He looked highly upon Al-Azhar Ulama as the elite of the educated class and as the leaders of the people. When he first set foot in Cairo he formed a special council (diwan) to govern the capital. That council consisted of nine eminent Sheikhs under the chairmanship of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sharkawi, the grand Imam of Al-Azhar at that time. The formation of this council stands as an evidences of the importance of Al-Azhar and the high status of its Ulama .
However, Al-Azhar was the meeting place for the opponents of the French occupation and the seat of the revolution. A special revolutionary committee was formed under the leadership of Sheikh Mohamed El-Sadat. When the revolution broke out against the French, the grand Imam and the Ulama Decided that it was impossible to carry on their studies, so they closed the mosque.
This has been the only time for Al-Azhar to be closed over its long history. When the French evacuated three years later, Al-Azhar resumed its normal activities and received its teachers and students. When Mohammad Ali took over the rule of Egypt in 1220 A.H 1805 A.D he planned to set up a modern state. To achieve his aim he greatly depended on Al-Azhar. He sent scholarships from among the students of Al-Azhar to Europe. These students were the pioneers who raised high the banner of the modern renaissance in Egypt. Most of the leading figures including the leader of the Orabi revolution were graduates of Al-Azhar. This also applied to the leader of 1919 revolution, Saad Zaghloul as well as many other leading personalities, Mohamed Abdu and El-Manfaloty for example completed their studies at Al-Azhar. The most significant incident was the meeting of both Muslim Ulama and Christian priests in the porticos of Al-Azhar addressing people from the pulpit of Al-Azhar .
When the 1952 revolution took place, Al-Azhar was one of the society that has been modernized and developed so that it can effectively carry out its illuminating role for the welfare not only of Egypt, but also of the Arab and whole Islamic world
Magazine publishing
Since 1929, Al-Azhar has published a magazine (now monthly) whose stated mission is to publicise religious rules, subjects related to Islamic literature, and basic jurisprudence
(shariah), including sections on history, biographies, translated texts, and news concerning the Muslim world.
Political views
Muhammad Sayyid TantawyMuhammad Sayyid Tantawi is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University.-Early life:Tantawy joined the Alexandria Religious Institute in 1944, and became a member of the faculty of Ausol Aldeen in 1968. In 1972 he became a member of the faculty of Arabic & Islamic...
, the current Imam of Al-Azhar, has declared that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombers to be "heretics" who are deviating from the true path of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. At a conference in
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, he called on all "true believers" to deny proponents of extremist and heretical forms of Islam the opportunity to give speeches in mosques, with a view to preventing the spread of violent ideologies.
Ali Goma'aSheikh Ali Goma'a is the Grand Mufti of Egypt through Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah succeeding Ahmad El-Tayeb. He has been called "one of the most widely respected jurists in the Sunni Muslim world," and described as "a highly promoted champion of moderate Islam," gender equality, and an "object of...
, the Egyptian
MuftiA mufti is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . A muftiat or diyanet is a council of muftis.-Qualifications:...
associated with Al-Azhar, has also declared that Islam authorizes the thwarting and eradication of those who kidnap and kill civilians in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
since they wreak havoc on Earth.
Sheikh Tantawy has 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 adds that "mastery over modern weaponry is important to prepare for any eventuality or prejudices of the others, although Islam is a religion of peace.".
Sheikh Tantawy also reasserts that his is the best faith to follow (a tenet common to proponents of many religions) and that Muslims have the duty of active
da'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").
On freedom of speech
In October 2007,
Muhammad Sayyid TantawyMuhammad Sayyid Tantawi is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University.-Early life:Tantawy joined the Alexandria Religious Institute in 1944, and became a member of the faculty of Ausol Aldeen in 1968. In 1972 he became a member of the faculty of Arabic & Islamic...
, the current 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 of Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and a number of ministers, Tantawy is alleged to have stated that journalism which contributes to the spread of false rumours rather than true news deserves to be boycotted, and that it is tantamount to sinning for readers to purchase such newspapers. Tantawy, a supporter of Egyptian President
Hosni MubarakMuhammad Hosni Mubarak, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, , (born 4 May 1928), is the 4th and current President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. He was appointed Vice President in 1975, and assumed the presidency on...
, 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. This is not the first time that he has criticized the Egyptian press regarding its news coverage nor is it the first time he in return has been accused by the press of opposing freedom of speech. During a religious celebration in the same month, Tantawy 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.
Notable persons associated with the university
Al-Azhar University has had a huge impact on the religious, cultural and political arena in Egypt, the Arab World, and the wider Muslim world
1800 - early 1900s
- Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...
, founder of Islamic ModernismContemporary Islamic philosophy refers to the situation of Islamic philosophy in the 20th century. New movements have emerged during this time due to encounter with modernity and Western philosophy....
.
- Izz ad-Din al-Qassam
Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam , full name,Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Qadar ibn Mustapha ibn Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Qassam, was an influential Sunni Islamic preacher in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, founder and leader of Black HandThe Black Hand was an armed organization in the British Mandate of Palestine. It was founded in 1930 and led by Syrian-born Shaykh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam until his death in 1935....
- Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni , a member of the al-Husayni clan of Jerusalem, was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, MuftiA mufti is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . A muftiat or diyanet is a council of muftis.-Qualifications:...
of JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
, a Palestinian Arab nationalistArab nationalism is a nationalist ideology which rose to prominence amongst Arabs from the early 20th century onwards. Its central premise is that the peoples and countries of the Arab World, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, constitute one nation and are bound together by their common...
and strong opponent of ZionismAnti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, and a term which has been used to describe several very different religious and political points of view, both historically and in current debates. All these points of view have in common some form of opposition to Zionism, but their diversity of motivation...
.
- Cheikh Chouaïb Doukkali, Former Moroccan minister of Justice, President of the Moroccan Appellate Court and a pioneer within the Moroccan independence movement.
- Ahmed Orabi, Egyptian nationalist and army general who led the Urabi Revolt
The Urabi Revolt or Orabi Revolt , also known as the Orabi Revolution, was an uprising in Egypt in 1879-82 against the Khedive and European influence in the country. It was led by and named after Colonel Ahmed Urabi.-Prologue:Egypt in the 1870s was under occupation, corrupt, misgoverned and in a...
against Khedive TewfikHH Muhammed Tewfik Pasha ' was Khedive of Egypt and Sudan between 1879 and 1892, and the sixth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty.-Early life:...
.
1910-1950s
- Hassan al-Banna
Hassan al-Banna was an Egyptian social and islamist political reformer, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential 20th century Muslim revivalist organizations...
, founder of the Muslim BrotherhoodThe Muslim Brothers is a Sunni transnational movement and the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states, particularly Egypt...
(he graduated from Darul 'Uloom which is an affiliate of Cairo University)
- Omar Abdel Rahman, leader of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
- Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
Taqiuddin al-Nabhani was a Sunni Shafi'i Islamic jurist, and theologian...
, the leader and founder of The Islamic Political Party, Hizb ut-Tahrir (The Party of Liberation).
- Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of Hamas
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
- Saad Zaghlul
Saad Zaghloul was an Egyptian political figure. He served as prime minister of Egypt from 26 January 1924 to 24 November 1924....
, leader of 1919 revolution in Egypt.
- Taha Hussein
Taha Hussein was one of the most influential Egyptian writers and intellectuals. He was a figurehead for the modernist movement in Egypt.- Biography :...
, Influential Egyptian writer and intellectual
- Muhammad Ma Jian
Muhammad Ma Jian, or Muhammad Makin was a Chinese Islamic scholar and translator.Born in Yunnan, Ma Jian went to Shanghai to pursue his studies in 1928. In 1931, he left China for Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt as a member of the first group of government-sponsored Chinese students to study...
, translator of the Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
into the Chinese languageChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
- Ahmad Meshari Al-Adwani
Ahmad Meshari Al-Adwani was a writer and teacher who wrote the lyrics of the national anthem of Kuwait, Al-Nasheed Al-Watani. In 1938, he graduated from the "al-Mubarakiyah" Secondary School, Kuwait. In 1939 he travelled to Cairo, Egypt, and admitted into the College of Arabic Language Studies at...
, Kuwaiti poet and writer of Kuwait's national anthem Al-Nasheed Al-WataniAl-Nasheed Al-Watani . The Kuwaiti national anthem is by poet Ahmad Meshari Al-Adwani, Ibrahim Al-Soula composed the music and Ahmad Ali arranged the composition. It was first broadcast on 25 February, 1978....
.
1950-
- Mohammed Burhanuddin
Mohammed Burhanuddin is the 52nd Dā‘ī l-Muṭlaq "Unrestricted Missionary" of a minority group of Ismā‘īlī Shī‘ah Muslims, the Dawoodi Bohras....
, Dai of Dawoodi Bohra done rediscovery of Al-Azhar University's past History and was Awarded Ph.d from Al-Azhar Universityhttp://www.mumineen.org.
- Shire Jama Ahmed
Shire Jama Ahmed was a Somali linguist who is credited with having devised a unique Latin script for transcribing the Somali language.In the late 1960's, Shire and a few other Somali linguists presented before the Somali Language Committee, an organization in charge of settling Somalia's...
, SomaliSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
linguist who devised a Latin script for the Somali languageThe Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of it from before 1900....
- Mahmud Shaltut
Shaykh Maḥműd Shaltűt was an Egyptian Islamic scholar. He then spent many years at Al-Azhar Islamic Institute in Cairo Egypt and rose to become rector or shaykh or grand imam and served in that position from 1958 to 1963...
, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, issued in 1961 a FatwaA fatwā , in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwa is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be binding, depending on the status of the scholar...
(opinion of a Scholar), declaring that Al-Azhar recognizes Shi'ism as a valid branch of Islam.
- Abdel-Halim Mahmoud
Sheikh Abdel-Halim Mahmoud served as Grand Imam of Al Azhar from 1973 until his death in 1978...
, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, introduced the study of SufismSufism or ' , also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ' , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals...
as a science through his prolific writings and lectures on the matter.
- Taha Jabir Alalwani
Taha Jabir Alalwani , Ph.D., is President of Cordoba University. He also holds the Imam Al-Shafi'i Chair in Islamic Legal Theory at The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences at Corboda University and is an internationally known scholar in his field. Dr...
, President of Cordoba University (Ashburn, VA, USA), former Chairman of the FiqhFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
Council of North America, and the President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon, Virginia (USA)The Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
.http://www.cordobauniversity.org/gsiss/faculty/Alalwani.asp
- Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, Former President of the Republic of Maldives.
- Houari Boumédienne
Houari Boumediène served as Algeria's Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 19 June 1965 until 12 December 1976, and from then on as President of Algeria to his death on 27 December 1978.- Background :Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba was born near...
, Former President of AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
.
- Gus Dur, Former President of Indonesia
The Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
- Abdulla Saeed
Ustaz Justice Abdulla Saeed, from the island of Meedhoo, is the current chief justice of the Maldives.-References:Profile of Honourable Abdullah Saeed, Chief Justice of Maldives:...
, Chief Justice of the Republic of Maldives.
- Shamil' Alyautdinov, the imam of Poklonnaya Gora mosque in Moscow and an author of a number of books concerning aspects of religious practice in everyday life of Muslim citizens in CIS
CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...
.
See also
- List of Egyptian universities
- List of mosques
- Timeline of Islamic history
- Arabic architecture
- Islamic art
Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally Islamic populations...
- Fatwa
A fatwā , in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwa is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be binding, depending on the status of the scholar...
s:
- Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa
The Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa is an Islamic fatwa issued by the renowned Sunni scholar Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot.The fatwa is the fruit of a decade-long collaborative effort between a group of Sunni and Shi'a scholars at the Dar al-Taqreeb al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah theological center at Al-Azhar...
External links