The speech of HE Prof Ahmad At-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairperson of the Muslim Council of Elders on the occasion of celebrating Laylat Al-Qadr (the Night of Distinction)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful
Mr. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,! May Allah guide and support you.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
May Allah’s Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon you.
Indeed, the Night of al-Qadr (Distinction) – in Almighty Allah's Words – “is better than a thousand months”. Muslim Scholars indisputably agree that it is the night when the Ever Glorious Qur'an was sent down and that it is one of the nights of Ramaᶁān, though they disagree regarding other acceptably controversial issues based on their different sustainable interpretations of the Qur'anic text. Was the Qur'an sent down on the Night of Al-Qadr, or it was only the night when the revelation began, to be successively revealed, in piecemeal over twenty-three years, to the Prophet (pbuh)? Is it a single night in the month of Ramaᶁān, or it occurs more than once in the month? And if it is only a single night, which night of the month it is? Is the Muslims' established habit of celebrating the night on the twenty-seventh of Ramaᶁān legally sustained as conclusive, or it is only based on conjecture? Is the word "Al-Qadr" derived from the Arabic root taqdīr, which means 'determining an action plan to be adopted by the Prophet of Islam for delivering the people from the conditions they had been suffering? Or is it derived from the root word qadr, meaning magnificence and honor? Does it indicate that "Almighty honored and elevated the status of His Prophet during that night by granting him the honor of conveying the message of Islam to humanity?" These are only a few issues among others, the answers to which are known only to Almighty Allah, the All Knower of the Unseen.
Whatever the answers to these inquiries may be, the lesson that should be drawn by the Muslim in commemoration of this night is not the customary practice of earnest supplication for worldly gains in the hope that it is the night when supplications are answered. Rather, the lesson is that the Qur'an was sent down on that night to set a line of demarcation between truth and falsehood, and to distinguish good from evil and illustrate the lawful and the forbidden. It marked the dawn of a new era in which man has become the vicegerent of Almighty Allah on earth in populating and mastering it. It is an era in which humans are in full charge of maintaining the path towards Allah, aiming at administering justice, establishing truth, observing equality among people, and fending off injustice, transgression and oppression. These are the salient values that elevate the community, given that lacking it would bring the community down the abyss of wretchedness. Such is the logic of the Qur'an and the philosophy of Islam.
This Qur'an is the divine scripture that has constituted the source of protection for the Muslim Nation, and its protective shield and invincible fence that has safeguarded it – over its history – from collapsing, crumbling and foundering. Reverend guests, consider the destiny of the two most dominant civilizations during the emergence of Islam, the Persian and the Byzantine, or the Empire of Chosroes in the East and the Empire of Caesars in the West. They constituted the world's two leading powers and were constantly raiding and vanquishing other nations, almost prevailing over the entire area of the Arabian Peninsula and of the Nile Valley. The armies of these two powers were controlling such areas and were equally unsurpassed. Yet, what befell these two civilizations was marvelous.
Historians note that the threat to these civilizations emanated from the Arabian Peninsula through an unknown small army that was poorly equipped and armed. Only within a few years, this army vanquished those two civilizations, reducing them into relics. Meanwhile, the Muslim civilization remained steadfast and unshakeable despite the successive attacks against it, and the attempts to split and dismantle it, efface its identity, induce sedition in it and trigger wars against it.
Much has been said in explaining the reasons behind the collapse of these two civilizations and the triumph of Islam and its spread east and west, which dominated the world only within eighty years of its emergence. And though several reasons are inferred in interpreting this rare phenomenon, the genuine reason behind such dominance, and one which the enemies of Islam are keen to conceal and exclude, is the Glorious Qur'an. It was held onto by this weak and limited group as they would preach its values and morals to the people and the people would in turn hasten to embrace it, escaping from the yoke of slavery, injustice, racism and caste that were falsely clad in a religious grab. Those people were also escaping other ills then afflicting major countries and undermining their deep foundations before eventually meeting their doom.
The Glorious Qur'an was sent down on the Night of Al-Qadr, declaring respect of the humans, asserting honoring and preferring them to the rest of creatures. It opened before them the gates of unlimited knowledge and enlightenment and drove them towards thinking, reflecting, investigating and researching. This was a consequence of freeing their minds from the fetters of rigidity, ignorance, blind imitation and mimicking that is not grounded on proof or argument.
The Qur'an also declared women free and restored to them the rights denied under the established laws at the time of its revelation, which are beyond enumeration. It also introduced a new philosophy for governance based on justice, equality, Shura (consultation), and prevention of despotism, as illustrated in the following selection of verses:
"…and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves." (42: 38)
" …and consult them in the matter" (3: 159)
" …and when you judge between people to judge with justice" (4: 58)
"You who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you." (4: 59)
The Qur'an also introduced main virtues and essential morals and proprieties, maintaining individual accountability, as well as the accountability of the community in general. Although it acknowledges the basis of difference among people in terms knowledge, morality, income levels and ways of life, still it undermines the roots of fanaticism, declaring all people equal without any distinction that is based on race or nationality. The only acknowledged criterion for preference is good deeds. Such diversity and pluralism, in terms of people's creeds, colors and languages, are means to lead them towards knowing one another, uniting and cooperating, "O humankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you communities and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted" (49: 13).
Dear respected guests, there are several other Qur'anic ordinances regarding community and international affairs, family affairs, penalties, and the like, not to mention the issues related to creed, worship acts and transactions, issues of the Unseen, and eschatological issues. It was natural then that the Qur'an gets attacked over fourteen centuries through campaigns of distortion, disrespect and alienation. It still suffers at the hands of such misleading campaigns at the present time through the writings of people who affiliate with Islam and yet follow Western literary critical schools – especially the so-called modernism and post-modernism - in criticizing the Qur'an.
These schools, in their final versions, build on innovated givens and rules, like striking down every heavenly truth, clinging to humanism and subjectivism as the sole source of knowledge, regardless of its type, and to the point that man alone is capable of holding the truth. Despite the limited knowledge and manifest desires and whims of humankind, they think humans alone set the criterion of good and evil, of truth and falsehood. For them, man is the measure for every truth, and that beyond this measure there is no truth. They believe that there is no superior or sublime authority that transcends man's authority, "even if this authority is (that of) Almighty Allah (Exalted is He)". This approach raises and sustains most of the salient modern sociological topoi, both in the East and the West, including "democracy, human rights, secularism, liberalism, and individual ownership".
Among the givens of this approach, too, is the intersection between religion and heritage, desacralization of religion, deconstruction of the sacred, death of the author, along with t death of that author's intent and message, and multiplicity of readings based on multiplicity of readers. You may wonder about the fate of a text like the Glorious Qur'an, with all its fixities, eschatological narratives, and eternal truths if it is approached through this modernist reading, which scalpel does not differentiate between man and God, the seen and the unseen, the scared and the civil! Wouldn't the Muslims then be required to relinquish this book, which would be no more viewed as a divine revelation fit for all times and places!
While we commemorate the revelation of the Glorious Qur'an, we have recently received the news about the bitter fruits of modernism. News headlines reported a 'white march' in the European West following the murder of an 85 French-Jewish woman at her apartment. The related manifesto contained manifest negative references to Islam and the Muslims, which – out of their frequency - can be condoned. What cannot be overlooked, however, is that the manifesto asked the Muslim religious authorities to declare "that the verses of the Qur'an calling for the killing and punishment of Jews, Christians and unbelievers obsolete, as were the incoherencies of the Bible and the Catholic anti-Semite abolished by the Vatican II, so that no believer can rely on a sacred text to commit a crime."
I would squarely note that this daring attitude towards the sanctities of others is among the top underlying causes of terrorism and incentives of bloodshed. It saddens me much that those who introduce such a claim overlook the extent of hatred and spite their words instill in the hearts of more than 1.5 billion who believe in this Book. Referring back to the Vatican's official releases, we found that not a single incoherency in the Bible was declared. We only came upon a statement by the Vatican Council that, though some Jews authorities and their affiliates are responsible for the death of Jesus, the crime committed by this sinful group cannot be blamed on the whole community of the Jews at the time of Jesus, nor at the present time. Then, the Council claimed all churches to assume such a spirit in teaching the Bible and in preaching it.
Our response to this manifesto is as follows:
There is not a single verse in the Glorious Qur'an that calls for the killing of Jews and Christians, and there is no room in it for such vicious brutality. The Qur'anic verses calling for fighting occur in the context of warding off transgression and fighting back the transgressors and their armies, even if such transgression is at the hands of some Muslims against other Muslims, "then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah." (49: 9). Why would the Qur'an call for killing Jews and Christians? What would be the reason for that? Would it be to compel the Jews and the Christians to embrace Islam? How could a sane person say so? How would we then interpret the verses that openly maintain, "There shall be no compulsion in (the acceptance of) religion"? Rather, how would we apply the Prophetic Hadith that reads, "Whoever of Jews or Christians is compelled to embrace Islam, shall not be acknowledged as having recanted his own faith". Does the Qur'an call for fighting the Jews and the Christians because they are non-Arabs?! How would the case be when we know that the Qur'an ordains righteousness and justice towards all those who do not fight the Muslims, even if they be idolaters?! How would the case be when we know that fair Jews acknowledge that they enjoyed peace and security under Muslim authorities in Andalusia, Egypt and other countries?!
Besides, Islam never blamed the present-day Jews for the crime of their ancestors, nor addressed the Jews of Madina (During the lifetime of the Prophet) in a collective manner. Rather, it was highly precise in addressing the Jews as a community containing the good and the bad, like any other community including the Muslims. The Jews of Madina themselves received such discourse that differentiates between the good-doer and the evil-doer of the People of the Scripture, as Almighty Allah said, "They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer]. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds. Those are among the righteous and whatever good they do – never will they be denied it. Allah is Knowing of the righteous." (3: 113-115). They also received the Qur'anic verses in the same chapter, in which Almighty Allah said, "Among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. Among them is he who, if you entrust with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning the non-Jews." They speak untruth about Allah while they know [it]." (3: 75) Interestingly, the very next verse reads, "So, whoever fulfills his commitment and be mindful of Allah – then indeed, Allah loves those who are mindful of Him." (3: 76)
Moreover, the Qur'anic description of cursing and humiliation is not addressed to all the Jews, as alleged in the manifesto, but it is rather addressed to those among the People of the Scripture–the Torah and the Bible–who disbelieved, "If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient." (3: 110) Then, the Qur'an reads, "Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed." (5: 78) It did not say 'Cursed were the Children of Israel' in general. The Qur'an also states, "Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture [i.e., the Jews and Christians] nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord" (2: 105), thus restricting the address only to the disbelievers among them.
Dear respected guests,
We would have not concluded this speech in commemoration of the Night of Al-Qadr with this brief commentary on the said manifesto if those who put it on paper had enough courage to acknowledge that Judaism and Zionism are worlds apart, that the Jews are something while Israel is something else, and that criticizing the Zionist entity does not necessarily mean criticizing the Jews or the Jewish religion, or that 'anti-Semitism' is a lie that no more sells for peoples now. These are the words of respected representatives of Neturei Karta who had attended Al-Azhar International Conference in Support of Jerusalem. I was just quoting part of their statement in the conference. They even went further than that. My solace as a Muslim is that those who released such manifesto are mostly policy-makers, not knowledge or mind builders.
Mr. President,
Happy many returns. I ask Almighty Allah to grant you success and guidance, and to sustain you in managing the country's affairs, provide you with constant support, and prepare for you the righteous company of officials who are sincere and dedicated for the sake of Allah and our beloved country.
Sorry for my long speech. Happy many returns to you all.
May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon you!
Ahmad At-Tayyeb
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar