His Eminence Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, received at Al-Azhar Headquarters, her excellency Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, to discuss ways of promoting cooperation and key global issues of mutual concern. During the meeting, the Grand Imam said that the world today is in dire need of the voice of religion, which some are trying to silence and exclude from people's lives. “Expanding materialism, and excessive pursuit of man’s desires would only lead the world to more wars, conflicts and bloodshed,” he added.
Prof. Al-Tayeb underlined that the term ‘freedom’ is widely misused in the West, which employs it to impose some Western visions and customs on our Eastern and Arab culture. This includes normalization of homosexuality through media channels directed to our Arab region and the Middle East, more generally. The West attempts to legally impose it as a fait accompli, thereby ignoring and violating human rights as well as children and family rights. These behaviors violate the teachings of religions and human’s natural disposition and disturb the delicate balance of nature. Therefore, the Grand Imam affirmed that this new form of intellectual and cultural colonialism must be put to an end!
Al-Azhar Grand Imam stressed that the adherence of Muslims and, more broadly, the Eastern nations to the religious and moral values is an integral part of their highly cherished and valued personality and identity. He also pointed out that freedom of expression cannot be taken as a pretext for insulting others and attacking their sanctities and religious symbols. Further, the Imam expressed his confidence in the voice of the wise and the elders and true advocates of just causes.
The Grand Imam stressed the need to get man out of current tragedies and sufferings. To his eminence, the Easterners must be dealt with as full human beings as the Westerners are. After all, the easterners deserve to live a much better life. His Eminence wondered, “Is there any hope for putting an end to the current humanitarian tragedies one day?”
His Eminence touched on the dangers of illegal immigration, stressing that if we want a radical solution to this phenomenon we must study its root causes and determine what compels young people, especially Africans, to leave their countries and head for an uncertain and unknown future. We must pay great attention to the African Continent- the continent of gold and wealth– that has been plundered and looted for long. We, on the other hand, must extend a hand to the people of this continent and give them full support to rise and work. Only then we may find some Westerners reversing the migration course to Africa!
On her part, the Danish Prime Minister expressed her deep appreciation of the Grand Imam’s efforts to promote the values of human fraternity, world peace, and coexistence among people. She also stressed that her country is eager to ensure the right to difference, and that it pays great attention to establishing bridges of communication and friendship between the East and the West. She added that she completely agrees with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar concerning the risks of illegal immigration, and that Egypt is an important partner that plats an effective role towards combatting this phenomenon. She conceded that these challenges need concerted efforts to have them progressively cleared.