Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy (Arabic: محمد سيد طنطاوى ) born 28 October 1928 is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University. He has been described as "perhaps the foremost Sunni Arab authority",[1] "acknowledged as the highest spiritual authority for nearly a billion Sunni Muslims",[2] and "a supreme authority."[3]
He 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 Studies at the Islamic University of Libya. In 1980 he moved to Saudi Arabia where he became cheif of the Tafsir branch of the Postgraduate studies branch at the Islamic University of Madinah. He returned to Egypt in 1985 when he became Dean of the Faculty of Ausol Aldeen in the prestigious Alexandria Religious Institute.[4][5]
In 1986 he was appointed as Grand Mufti of Egypt on his 58th birthday, 28 October 1986. He held this position for almost ten years, untill he was appointed Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University by the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, on 27 March 1996. [1][4][5] The Al-Azhar Mosque is one of the most influential and important Sunni Muslim institutions.[4][5]
He has taken a line against Suicide bombings, and unlike his compatriot Yusuf al-Qaradawi, he has condemned the use of suicide bombings against Israelis, rejecting the argument that all Israelis were legitimate targets because at some stage they would all carry a gun.[2] In 2003 he called suicide bombers "enemies of Islam", adding "people of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity.. Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky" [6] Speaking after the September 11, 2001 attacks he said "It's not courage in any way to kill an innocent person, or to kill thousands of people, including men and women and children."[7]
He is somewhat conservative, and is opposed to Women as Imams in mixed Congregations during Friday prayers (Jumu'ah).[8] He also called Haydar Haydar's book, ‘Feast for Seaweed’, blasphemous. [9] In 2001 he issued a fatwa banning women from acting as surrogate mothers or from receiving frozen sperm from dead husbands.[10]
Tantawy completed a seven thousand page exegesis of the Qur'an (Al-tafser al-waset). This Tafsir took over ten years to complete.[3] He has also written Bano Israel (Jacob's Son's) and Muamlat Al-bank ( Bank's Dealings ).[4][5]
During the controversy of the French headscarf ban in schools, he issued a Fatwa allowing Muslim Girls to take off their Hijabs while attending school, using the lesser of two evils principle.[11] He has issued a fatwa which allowed abortion in cases where a woman had become pregnant through rape, though this created controversy and Mufti Ali Gomaa said Tantawy was wrong, and that irrespective of how the life was created, after 120 days an abortion becomes haram, forbidden.[12] Tantawy has also seen himself in opposition to some other clerics over his stance against female circumcision, especially in 1997 when he said "The Ulema of Islam are unanimous in agreeing that female circumcision has nothing to do with religion" and revealed his own daughter had not been circumcised.[13]
Notes
- ^ Informed Comment - Juan Cole. 05 September, 2005.
- ^ a b Grand Sheikh condemns suicide bombings - BBC News. 04 December, 2001
- ^ a b An invitation he just couldn't resist - Attending the King's Court: Shaykh al-Azhar Dr Mohammed Tantawi outside Number 10 - Q News via Ireland Online, June 1997.
- ^ a b c d CV of Dr. Muhammad Sayid Tantawy - Al-Azhar University
- ^ a b c d His Excellency Sheikh, Dr. Muhammad Sayid Tantawy - Contemporary Africa Database
- ^ Cleric condemns suicide attacks - BBC News. 11 July, 2003
- ^ Islamic world deplores US losses - BBC News. 14 September, 2001
- ^ Woman leads US Muslims to prayer - BBC News. 18 March, 2005
- ^ Egypt row deepens over 'blasphemous' novel - BBC News. 18 May, 2000
- ^ Egypt clerics ban surrogate mothers - BBC News. 2 April, 2001
- ^ Sheikh sanctions headscarf ban - BBC News. 30 December, 2003
- ^ Religion and Ethics - Abortion - Rape, incest and adultery - bbc.co.uk
- ^ Egyptian ban on female circumcision upheld - BBC News. 28 December, 1997
External links
- Al-Azhar Mosque and University (official site)
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