The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Prof Ahmed Aṭ-Ṭayyeb said, “Al-Azhar is taking strong steps towards achieving world peace and consolidating the values of fraternity and citizenship. Al-Azhar has exerted great efforts to build bridges of dialogue between the East and the West, as well as among the followers of different religions, aiming for consolidating the principle of diversity and integration among people. Such bridges are built through holding many conferences to which major public figures and representatives of different religious sects are invited.
While meeting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Cairo, the Grand Imam stressed that the relations among peoples should be based on citizenship and peaceful coexistence. He noted that Al-Azhar is working to achieve such relations day after day through activities and conferences. He added that it was not easy that Al-Azhar and the Vatican have met together to introduce a joint work to the world like the "Human Fraternity Document" to save the world from contemporary human crises. However, such work has already been done because both intentions are sincere and pure to get the world out of the darkness of racism and extremist ideologies, he remarked.
On his part, the American Ambassador said, “I’m pleased to meet a personality like the Grand Imam Aṭ-Ṭayyeb, who enjoys wide approval and who has made great efforts to achieve world peace. He also noted that Al-Azhar is an ancient institution with a good global reputation that plays a prominent role in promoting the dialogue between the followers of religions, protecting religious freedom, and providing a reasonable moderate discourse”. He also praised the good resonance and testimonies received by the USA embassy about the quality and competency of Al-Azhar delegates of scientific missions to the United States.
The American Ambassador affirmed, “The curricula of Al-Azhar deserve to be taught globally, to benefit students outside Egypt, especially in places where extremism and terrorism are widespread. We are glad to cooperate with Al-Azhar in combating extremism because our enemy is one, and the whole world must fight it. We look forward to continuous communication with Al-Azhar, especially since the issues addressed by this institution will be in the interest of the region in general”.