On Monday 27th January 2020, the University of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif held a two-day high-level conference titled ‘the Al-Azhar International Conference on Renovation of Islamic Thought (Tajdid)’, which was attended by representatives of religious institutions and scholars from over 46 countries around the world. Prominent political and religious leaders as well as representatives of various Awqaf (Endowments) Ministries and Dar al-Ifta’ centres of Muslim countries were also in attendance.
Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, organised the late-Janaury conference in Cairo to discuss urgent issues on religious discourse and renewal. The surge of extremism, often fuelled by corrupted interpretation of religious texts, has made the issue of religious renewal more urgent. Al-Azhar has stood up for religious moderation since its founding almost a millennium ago. As a mosque, a university and a religious institution, it has defended the Islamic faith against extremist ideologies, teaching tens of thousands of scholars who have carried its message across the world.
The Grand Imam, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar, who called for the conference and hosted it, urged the renewal of religious discourse in light of the Qur’anic law in order to deal with the social and political challenges facing Islam and the world. In his comments, the Grand Imam noted that only expert Islamic scholars of traditional training are responsible for such evaluation and renewal, adding that renewing religious discourse should not distort the religion or cancel parts of it. Instead, it should examine in light of religious principles and instructions the historical context as well as the present context where possible.
The Grand Imam slammed religious extremism saying that extremist thought does not represent Islam. He also shed light on reformist and westernised groups who are devoted to distorting the image of Islam, staining the reputation of Islamic symbolic figures and mocking their heritage. Between this extremism and this notion of modernity, the Muslim youth find themselves confused in between intolerance and hatred on the one hand and emptiness and cultural suicide on the other. The Grand Imam stated that the Muslims should pursue renewal in line with Islamic heritage. “The heritage some people take lightly today built a nation and taught people co-existence,” he said. The Grand Imam criticised those who blame Islamic heritage for making Muslims weak. “We advocate a renewal that benefits from the treasures of this religion and uses them as a guiding force for the future,” he added. “We should leave out things from this heritage that do not suit the present.”
Following two days of discourses and sessions on various themes, the conference concluded with a final statement consisting of 29 key points determined by the conference on the topic of renovation of Islamic thought.
Read the final statement of the conference here (Arabic):
Statement – Al-Azhar Conference on Revival 2020
Listen to the Grand Imam reading out the final statement of the conference here: Youtube (Arabic)
