CAIRO Ñ Egypt's state-employed clerics appear divided over whether
to support suicide attacks against Israel and the West after official requests from the United States for changes in it curriculum.
The debate is said to have raged within the Cairo-based Al Azhar
seminary, Middle East Newsline reported. The seminary is supported by the state and is regarded as the
leading Islamic theological institute in the Middle East.
The United States has pressed Al Azhar to change its curriculum to end
encouragement for violence in the name of Islam. Tantawi said his seminary
has rejected this and refused U.S. diplomats and experts an opportunity to
review and discuss the curriculum.
Arab diplomatic sources said Al Azhar has been torn by vague
instructions from the regime of President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Arabia,
which has allocated funds to numerous Egyptian mosques and clerics. Saudi
clerics have ruled in favor of Islamic suicide attacks against Israelis.
For its part, Egypt's government has maintained that it has not allowed
the United States to change the curriculum of Al Azhar. Egyptian officials
have told parliament that U.S. officials have been allowed to visit the
state-sponsored seminary.
Islamic sources said the leadership within Al Azhar has argued over
whether to oppose Islamic suicide attacks against Israel and the United
States. Another issue is whether the clerics should oppose efforts to
boycott American and Israeli products in Egypt.
Rival clerics have issued conflicting fatwas, or rulings, regarding the
issue of suicide attacks and a boycott. Sheik Mohammed Sid Tantawi, head of
the seminary, first expressed support for suicide attacks and then appeared
to change his mind and stressed opposition to attacks on civilians.
Ahmed Al Tib, a leading Islamic scholar and a philosophy instructor, has
expressed concern over the lack of clear guidance from Al Azhar. Al Tib
denied reports that he intended to resign amid rulings by Al Azhar in
support of suicide attacks and an Islamic boycott of the United States.
