The Grand Imam of Al-Azahr and the chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders Prof. Ahmad el-Tayyib has just arrived at Abuja, Nigeria, and he is scheduled to meet the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential place to discuss how to confront extremism.
The Grand Imam and the accompanying delegation were received by a number of senior officials, the Mufti of Nigeria Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh al-Huseiny, the Egyptian ambassador to Nigeria Ashraf Abd al-Qadir Salama and a number of leaders of religious groups.
From the Abuja International Conference Centre and in the presence of senior scholars and a large number of Nigerian officials and public figures, the Grand Imam will address a speech, Tuesday, to the African peoples and all Muslims all-over the world, entitled as "Islam a religion of Peace: Challenges of Confronting Extremism and Terrorism."
The Grand Imam is accompanied by a high-level delegation consisting of: the President of Al-Azhar University Prof. Ibrahim al-Hudhud, the head of Al-Azhar Institutes Sector Prof. Muhammad Abu Zeid al-Amir, the Dean of Faculty of Usul al-Deen Prof. Abd al-Fattah al-Awwary and the legal adviser to the Grand Imam Mr. Muhammad Abd al-Salam.
Being the first to Nigeria since assuming the leadership of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the Grand Imam’s visit comes as a part of Al-Azhar efforts – in cooperation with the Muslim Council of Elders- to foster values of peace, spread the culture of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence, strengthen the true concepts of Islam and to affirm the moderation of Islam and its rejection of violence and terrorism.