The Secretary-General of the Islamic Research Academy (AIRA), Dr. Nazir Ayyad, met Ambassador Ulrika Sundberg – the Special Swedish Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue, and Mr. Jürgen Persson, Swedish Embassy chargé d'affaires, to discuss ways of effective cooperation in diverse fields.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Secretary-General welcomed the delegation, expressing his happiness about the mutual cooperation, stressing that this cooperation stems from the global role of Al-Azhar under the leadership of His Eminence, the Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, to convey its tolerant message and spread its moderate vision around the world.
The two sides also discussed how to obtain the optimal benefit from Al-Azhar and its various sectors in supporting the strategy of maintaining family relations and confronting everything that threatens their stability. In addition, they stressed the necessity to adopt the optimal method in dealing with family members, raising people’s awareness regarding children’s and women’s rights in society. Also, they worked on correcting misconceptions, highlighting Islamic views about the family and the building of individuals as well, and paying attention to their issues as they are the main component of the society, especially in light of the misconceptions spread through social media.
In this context, the meeting also highlighted the efforts of Egypt and Al-Azhar with all its sectors, under the leadership of the Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, to spread moderation and tolerance worldwide. This can be achieved through cooperation and integration with various scientific and cultural institutions to protect people from any fallacies that would harm or use religion as a tool to commit acts of violence.
Finally, the two sides also reviewed the importance of joint cooperation in urgent issues that concern everyone at various levels, for example: climate change, family affairs, and deviant concepts, in addition to the possibility of training Swedish Imams and providing them with enlightening Azhari thought that befits Al-Azhar scientific and intellectual status in the world.