His eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, Al-Azhar Grand Imam and the Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders heads today to the Nigerian capital, Abuja where he is scheduled to meet with the Nigerian President Muhammad Bukhari in the presidential palace, to discuss means of combating misguided and deviant thoughts.
As well, Al-Tayyeb's visit is scheduled to witness a number of important events topped by holding a meeting with the Nigerian vice-president in addition to meeting with a member of the members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria. His eminence the Grand Imam is further scheduled to meet with a number of the Muslim countries' ambassadors to Nigeria.
The Grand Imam is due to give a speech in which he will address the African and Muslim countries all over the world. The speech is scheduled to be delivered from the Nigerian ICC will be attended by a number of senior scholars, officials and public figures; it will be given the title of Islam is a Religion of Peace: Challenges of Combating Extremist Thought and Terrorism.
His eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Nuaymi, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders; Judge. Muhammad Abdelsalam, the Grand Imam's advisor for legal affairs; Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Hudhud; Al-Azhar University Rector; and Prof. Dr. Abu Zayd Al-Amir, Head of Al-Azhar Institute Sector.
The Grand Imam's visit to Nigeria is considered the first of its kind since Al-Tayyed assumed the office of Al-Azhar. It comes in the context of the efforts exerted by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in collaboration with the Muslim Council of Elders, to promote values of peace, spread the culture of dialogue and co-existence, disseminate the true teachings of Islam and place emphasis on the middle course of Islam and that it denounces violence and terrorism.
His eminence Al-Azhar Grand Imam's visit receives a big attention at all the official and media levels.