Egypt's Grand Mufti, politics and religion

[rug]

Shawki Ibrahim Allam, the Grand Mufti of Egypt was a guest at the University of Bonn in Germany. In a panel, he called for inter-religious dialogue; however, political issues were not addressed.

Date 17.07.2016
Author Kersten Knipp

Terrorism cannot be based on Islam. Religion does not in any way legitimize acts of terror. Terrorists cultivate a random interpretation of religion that has nothing to do with established theology, says the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Ibrahim Allam.

During a panel discussion in Bonn, Germany, Allam made it clear that jihadists and other criminals are appropriating religion for their own ends. He and his colleagues at Dar al Ifta, the Egyptian fatwa office, have analyzed jihadist writings of various authors. He said, "Theologically, they are all untenable."

Scholars in many other fatwas have said the same. In 2014, Allam and 120 other Islam scholars had expressed this opinion in an open letter to the leader of terror organization "Islamic State" condemning the crimes committed in the name of the religion.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt holds the highest religious office in his country. As a religious authority, he is responsible for issuing religious legal opinions published by the Egyptian government agency he heads, Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyyah, the Egyptian fatwa agency.

http://www.dw.com/en/egypts-grand-mufti-politics-and-religion/a-19406612

[Igel]

1. Yeah, yeah.

I'm sure that Catholic theologians have exampled most Protestant, as well as JW, SDA, and other smaller faiths, and found them to be theologically untenable.

So I guess Methodism isn't really a religion. Heck, nor is Baptist theology or Seventh-Day Adventism.

Appeals to authority to settle matters of definition in a decentralized, at best marginally hierarchical community is a vexed problem. Notice that al-Azhar knows this: When there's a fatwa that's hateful and they don't like, they point out that fatwas are based in jurisprudence and it's up to individuals to accept or deny them, because, well, there is no supreme authority in Islam.

[rug]

2. Appeals to the authority of the Quran is the basis for most arguments that Islam equals violence.