Head of Religious Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Parliament: Al-Azhar Played Major Role in Renewing Religious Discourse
- 2023-Mar-31
The World Muslim Communities Council (TWMCC) organised a virtual lecture that was delivered by His Honourable Dr Ali Gomaa, a member of Al-Azhar's Senior Scholars Council and Head of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Parliament, as part of the series of Ramadan lectures organised by TWMCC under the title "Religious Education between Heritage and Renewal".
Gomaa said that over the centuries, Muslim scholars studied all sciences and divided them into religious sciences, sciences of purposes, and linguistics, explaining that when addressing education it is necessary to discuss “The student, the teacher, the curriculum, the book and the scientific environment.”
He added that Al-Azhar Al-Sharif collected all the religious sciences that were adopted by other educational institutions, pointing out that the student used to explain the lessons and turn into a professor and the professor would turn into a student and then grades would be given according to the explanation, and whoever refuses the evaluation he would be arrested for his attempt to "Change the religion of Allah"
Gomaa explained that Imam Muhammad Abduh proposed new ideas for the development of education and curricula, and then the Faculty of Sharia and Law was established in Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, while Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars was established in 1911, during the period of the Grand Imam Salim Al-Bishri.
He noted that the future requires us to revive the teaching of ethics to confront a world that is heading towards corruption and injustice, and that our curricula must include an ethical aspect led by Islamic mysticism, which is under major attacks.
Gomaa stressed that Al-Azhar Al-Sharif played a major role in issues of religious discourse renewal in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
