A delegation from Al-Azhar Alumni UK travelled to Cairo, Egypt, to attend various meetings and ceremonies at Al-Azhar University from 22nd July to 24th July 2019. The visit was jointly organised by Al-Azhar Alumni UK and the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates based in Cairo. The delegation was headed by the Vice-President of Al-Azhar Alumni UK, Bakhtyar Pirzada al-Azhari, and comprised of members of Al-Azhar Alumni UK.
In addition to various meetings with heads and officials at Al-Azhar, the activities of the delegation at Al-Azhar included the following:
1. The delegation participated in the graduation ceremony of the British Imams and teachers who completed a specialist training programme at Al-Azhar. In addition to the senior scholars of Al-Azhar present, Bakhtyar Pirzada al-Azhari delivered a short talk, trainee Imam Issarar Hussain offered words of gratitude, Qari Abu Adam Akhlaq al-Azhari recited verses of the Qur’an and Imam Muhammad Asad Ali recited nasheeds in honour of the sublime Messenger (peace be upon him).
2. Head of Al-Azhar’s Department of Urdu at the Faculty of Languages and translator of ‘Tafsir Imdad al-Karam’, namely Dr Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim al-Sayyid offered an introduction to the Qur’an commentary authored by the President of Al-Azhar Alumni UK, Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, and together with the Vice-President of Al-Azhar Alumni UK presented the seven volume book to Al-Azhar University. Former President of Al-Azhar University and Scholarly Advisor to the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates, Dr Ibrahim al-Hudhud, read out excerpts from Shaykh Pirzada’s Qur’an commentary in Arabic to the scholars and the audience present, who all greatly appreciated this timely endeavour.
3. Representing the Grand Imam, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar, the Senior Deputy and Wakil of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Shaykh Dr Salih Abbas, welcomed the delegation at the Mashikhat al-Azhar where a meeting took place.
4. The delegation visited the notable ‘Al-Azhar Observatory for Countering Extremism’ where monitoring of extremist material and terrorism around the world is taking place, with continuous countering measures and projects being initiated in numerous languages backed by the scholars of Al-Azhar. Current trends are monitored and correct Islamic understandings are promoted to counter the negative interpretations of religions.
5. The delegation also visited ‘The Al-Azhar E-Fatwa Centre’ where scholars of Islamic Law and Shari’ah provide instant answers and advice in numerous languages on any and every issue raised by phone, email, social media, etc. The delegation were shown demonstrations of the sophisticated system in place for providing E-Fatwas for male and female callers and the monitoring system of the answers given by the senior scholars of Al-Azhar.
During the visits, in addition to the above, the delegation met with Shaykh Dr Abdul Fadeel al-Qawsi (Member of the Supreme Council of Al-Azhar Scholars and Vice-President of the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates), Mr Ossama Yassin (Vice-Chairman for Administrative Affairs of the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates), Dr Abdel Daim Nusaer (Special Assistant to the Grand Imam and Secretary-General of the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates), and numerous others.
In addition to the British trainees at Al-Azhar and the Vice-President of Al-Azhar Alumni UK, the delegation from the UK also comprised of Maulana Zein Hud al-Azhari, Qari Abu Adam Akhlaq al-Azhari, Mr Imran Hussain, Ustadh Hisham Mahmoud, Imam Abu Baqar Ali al-Azhari and Imam Hasnain Shakeel.
