By: Salman Haji
A groundbreaking declaration was recently issued by Al Azhar University, considered the world's second oldest surviving degree granting university. The declaration, made by Al Azhar's grand sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, expressed support for "the establishment of a modern, democratic, constitutional state" that respects and satisfies all citizens and protects basic freedoms of thought and expression. With the reputation of Al Azhar University as the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world, the declaration will likely remain prominent in the new post-revolutionary nations of the Middle East and North Africa.
A meeting between Pope Shenouda III, the religious leader of Egypt's Coptic Christians, and General Samy Diab of the military council, responsible for the country's religious affairs, took place on Wednesday, June 22. The meeting was significant in establishing mutual recognition between the military council and the Coptic Church.
July 7 will be the date of a protest outside the Ministry of Justice's headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The demonstrators, a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians, hope to successfully urge the government in accepting the reform of allowing for a Coptic personal status code. The code would address concerns surrounding personal and family issues such as the rights of marriage and divorce.
The Awlad Khalaf village in the Sohag Governorate was the site of a recent sectarian clash. On Saturday, June 25, Coptic Christians' homes were set on fire after a dispute surrounding the building of a church in the southern Egyptian community. A police official reported that the violence started when a Christian man opened fire on Muslims protesting against the church and injured two. While some houses were burned, nobody was hurt. Military reinforcements arrived in the village in case the situation escalated.
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