Hafsa Kanjwal on Islam and Education in Egypt

By: Hafsa Kanjwal

February 13, 2007

This past Friday, I visited the great Al-Azhar Mosque, part of what the guidebooks here call “Islamic Cairo.” Egyptians are easily amused by the title; the haggling of prices in the historic Khan al-Khalili market does not seem to be very Islamic to them. However, the area includes some of the notable mosques and shrines in Islamic history, including Al-Azhar and the Mosque of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The mosque used to house Al-Azhar University, but currently the university is spread out in different campuses throughout the country. It is considered to be the center of Sunni Islamic scholarship and education.
The university was founded by the Shi’a Fatamid dynasty in 988 AD. During the Ayyubid Dynasty it became a Sunni institution. It is one of the oldest operating universities in the world (whether it’'s first or second is debated—; the other university clamoring for the same title is located in Fes, Morocco). During the Crusades and the Mongol invasions, some of the first areas to be attacked were institutions of learning and libraries. The Mongol invasions had the biggest effect on Muslim libraries. Centers of learning in Baghdad were destroyed. Witnesses described the Tigris River as running with blood for three days, and then in ink for another three.

It’'s interesting to note how in a list of the oldest universities in the world, the first two are located in the Muslim world. Education has been a crucial element in Islamic history from the beginning. Scholars in Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo were unraveling the mysteries of medicine, science, philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics well before their Western counterparts. Unfortunately, Western scholars make it appear that they created critical thought and the realm of “liberal education” during the Enlightenment in the sixteenth century. However, Europe was still in its Dark Ages around the time of the height of Islamic civilization, which contributed greatly not only to the sciences, but also to art, literature, and religious studies. Today, this lack of appreciation for the contribution of Islam to education, science, philosophy, etc. is part of the reason the Muslim world feels under attack and unappreciated.

Al-Azhar focuses mainly on Islamic law, theology, and the Arabic language, but over time it has incorporated non-religious subjects as well, including medicine, science, and engineering. It began to admit women in 1962, around the same time women were being admitted into elite institutions of higher learning in the United States.

Visiting Al-Azhar was quite a surreal experience for me. Even as a Muslim-American, I always heard of the scholars of Al-Azhar whose opinions reign supreme; a fatwa is given quite a bit of legitimacy if it hails from Al-Azhar. I can remember many arguments which have been halted as soon as one of the parties says, “"Well, a sheikh at Al-Azhar says…”..." 

Recently, the university has taken an active role in representing a more moderate Islamic voice. Although it has criticized the West, especially during the cartoon controversy in Denmark, the grand imam of Al-Azhar has continually condemned violence and has refused to bestow martyrdom status on Palestinian suicide bombers. He has also acknowledged the right of the government in France to ban head scarves and has urged Muslim women living in France to follow the ban. It seems that the “moderate voice” that the West seems to be looking for in the Muslim world finds its way in its intellectual hub.

However, I was quite surprised when I spoke to a group of Egyptian students about the role of the scholars of Al-Azhar. A few of them rolled their eyes and made references to the fact that the scholars were very much influenced by the government—; one went as far as to say that the grand imam is a puppet of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. There has been a strong criticism regarding this relationship in recent years, leading many Muslims to question the intentions and legitimacy of the university. If this continues, a major stronghold of intellectual thought and reform in the Islamic world will be threatened.
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