A Weeklong Program to Be Implemented by Al-Azhar Leaders: Azhari Delegation Tours Nigerian Cities to Monitor Al-Azhar Activities and Efforts.
The Secretary General of Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy (AIRA), Dr. Naẓīr ʿAyyād heads an official delegation to monitor Al-Azhar efforts at Al-Azhar International Institutes, and the activities of Al-Azhar mission in Nigeria. The delegation includes Dr. Salama Daoūd, Head of Al-Azhar Institutes Sector, Dr. Nahla Aṣ-Ṣaīdi, Head of the International Student Development Center and Mr. Muḥammad Yasīn, the General Director of the General Administration of Envoys in AIRA.
The delegation was received by Ihab ʿAwaḍ, the Ambassador of Egypt to Nigeria, and the Mufti of Nigeria and the members of the Egyptian Embassy. The delegation's program, which will last for a week, aims at holding a meeting with the Ambassador and members of the Egyptian Embassy. Then, they will have two successive meetings— the first with the Grand Mufti of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh Al-Hussaini, and the second with the officials of the Supreme Council for Fatwa and Islamic Affairs in Nigeria.
Dr. Naẓīr ʿAyyād said, "The delegation is scheduled to organize a visit to the city of Kano, on the second day. The visit includes holding a number of meetings with Mr. Aminu Bayero, Prince of Kano State, and visiting Al-Azhar Institute, and the Egyptian Cultural Center and its mosque in Kano. During the third day, the program includes holding a dialogue session with the directors of Al-Azhar institutes, at the headquarters of the Egyptian Embassy, regarding the ways of combating extremist ideas, promoted by some deviant currents, in addition to meeting some imams and preachers who graduated from this institute."
In this respect, the Secretary General stated that, on the fourth day, the delegation will have a meeting with Al-Azhar envoys in Nigeria, at the Egyptian Embassy. After that, they will meet a number of Nigerian officials in order to discuss the issues related to refuting misconceptions. Finally, the visit will be concluded by the Secretary General's delivering of the Friday sermon at the National Mosque of the Nigerian capital, and then a final meeting with the Egyptian Ambassador will be held.