Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and its Grand Imam, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, strongly condemn the escalating wave of violence against Muslims in Western countries. These acts included arson attack on some mosques in Spain, Canada and Netherlands as well as the demonstrations of some extreme right-wing parties that raised slogans hostile to Islam and Muslims after the recent Paris terrorist attacks. The demonstrators also burnt a copy of the Holy Qur'an and called for the deportation of Muslims and violating their properties.
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif affirms its strong condemnation of these racial acts which run counter to all that heavenly divine religions and international conventions have called for regarding the necessity of respecting others' beliefs and protecting their sacred sites, houses of worship and properties - calling the Western governments to take all necessary measures and precautions to protect all Muslims living in their countries from any possible attacks and not to link the terrorist acts of that little deviated group of Muslims on one hand and the teachings of the upright Islamic religion which calls for peace, tolerance and peaceful coexistence with the other on the other hand.
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif requests the concerned authorities in the Western countries to be cautious and accurately verify tracking the criminals in order not to harm innocent people who represent the majority of peaceful Muslims that have mingled with their Western communities and faithfully contributed several tangible achievements in various fields. Al-Azhar also warns that wrong handling of this crisis and exploiting these incidents to incite hatred against Muslims will cause more tension and turmoil which, in their turn, will feed terrorism that will
benefit from these mistakes in handling the crisis through spreading its distorted thoughts and aberration.