Al-Azhar seems to be losing ground as the only universally respected institution capable of bringing about national unity, or at least dialogue, among the different political forces that have been in conflict since the 25 January Revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has already rejected Al-Azhar's calls for dialogue in a bid to defuse the political deadlock that has been engulfing Egypt since the ouster of Egypt's first-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who was also a member of the Brotherhood, on 3 July. Since then, a coalition of pro-Morsi Islamist parties, dubbed the National Alliance for the Defence of Legitimacy, has announced that it will not engage in dialogue under the patronage of Al-Azhar's grand imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb, who it has lambasted as “an integral part” of what the coalition describes as the “military coup ending Morsi's rule”. However, for the grand imam, dialogue is the only option to end the current political dilemma. On Wedneday, just a few hours after security bodies forcibly cleared the MB six-week-long protest camps in Cairo and Giza, Al-Tayeb stressed that violence and bloodshed should not be an alternative to political solutions. In his televised speech, the Grand Imam expressed his deep sorrow for what he called Wednesday's martyrs and called upon all conflicting parties to listen to the voice of reason. The coalition of Islamist parties has made it clear that it welcomes local and international initiatives for reconciliation, but it has set the reinstatement of the ousted former president and so-called “constitutional legitimacy” as non-negotiable pre-conditions. Last week, Al-Azhar's grand imam, announced that he would begin inviting high-profile figures and the sponsors of national reconciliation initiatives for dialogue with the aim of reaching a unified formula that would help defuse the current political crisis. A spokesman for Al-Azhar told the press that Al-Tayeb would start by contacting the Salafist Nour Party, the Strong Egypt Party and the Wasat Party, along with figures like Islamist lawyer and former presidential candidate Mohamed Selim Al-Awwa and Salafi preacher Mohamed Hassan. Other political figures would also be invited, and officials from Al-Azhar said on Sunday that members of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party were among those who had been approached. Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, secretary-general of the Strong Egypt Party and a former Brotherhood member, had previously suggested holding a public referendum on the post-Morsi roadmap presented by the present government, while Al-Awwa has proposed the appointment of a new prime minister to be “approved by everyone” and having presidential powers. The Salafist Nour and Watan parties have concurred with Al-Awwa, but have also suggested some adjustments. All those who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on behalf of the Brotherhood said that they appreciated all “sincere reconciliation efforts by such respectable figures”, but that the idea of discussing these under the leadership of Al-Tayeb would press all the wrong buttons. Al-Tayeb has been under fire from the Islamist movements, pro-Morsi protesters and some scholars from within Al-Azhar for having publicly supported the military intervention to depose Morsi after the massive 30 June Revolution. The grand imam and the Coptic Pope Tawadros II were key attendees at the last-minute meeting held by Defence Minister General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi that agreed on the ouster of Morsi and the roadmap for a post-Morsi Egypt. Al-Tayeb had also issued a religious edict prior to Morsi's ouster saying that “peaceful opposition against a ruler is permissible according to Sharia law”. This edict was seen by Morsi's supporters as giving the green light to the massive public protests against Morsi, due to Al-Tayeb's “historic opposition” to the Brotherhood and his former affiliation to the former National Democratic Party that had ruled the country under former president Mubarak. They mentioned Al-Tayeb's opposition to the 25 January Revolution that brought down Mubarak, when Al-Tayeb had called for the “need to end the demonstrations and curb the bloodshed”, apparently corroborating their argument. “How dare the grand sheikh call for reconciliation or pretend to impartiality when he blatantly sided with the military coup that ended Morsi's rule,” asked Brotherhood member Hamdi Hassan. “Al-Tayeb is no more than a tool in the hands of General Al-Sisi, the actual ruler of the country, who has been using Al-Azhar to justify the coup and provide it with legitimacy.” Hassan lamented that Al-Tayeb had not taken “any positive stance” against “the massacre of the worshipping civilian protesters in front of the Republican Guard Club and the killing of peaceful protesters at the hands of the security forces in Al-Nasr Street and other places, other than his staying in seclusion”. “He did not even denounce the attacks on worshippers in mosques, most notably that on the Qait Bey Mosque in Alexandria,” Hassan said. Fadel Soliman, director of the Cairo-based Bridges Foundation, a body that specialises in introducing Islam to non-Muslims, concurred. Soliman, who insists he is a pro-democracy, rather than a pro-Morsi, protester, said that the very fact that the grand imam was sponsoring the reconciliation initiative was “definitely unacceptable”. “Al-Tayeb was part and parcel of the coup that ended Morsi's rule, and thus he cannot claim impartiality in any negotiations,” Soliman argued. This absence of trust in the person of the grand imam has given rise to conspiracy theories among Morsi's supporters, suggesting that the reconciliation initiative is just a “government tactic” to justify plans to disperse the pro-Morsi sit-ins by force as the alternative to the Brotherhood's rejection of dialogue under Al-Tayeb's auspices. However, on Wednesday, Al-Tayeb denied knowing in advance of any security plans to disperse the sit-ins. Both Soliman and Hassan emphasised the protesters' demand that no solution can be reached without the reinstatement of “constitutional legitimacy” and Morsi. Hassan also insisted that “all those responsible for the bloodshed of an estimated 500 martyrs and 8,000 injured since the ouster of Morsi should be put on trial.” “Morsi is the only one who can negotiate a solution, because he is the country's only president. No one, not even from the Brotherhood, has the right to speak on his behalf,” Soliman insisted. Soliman was particularly frustrated by the fact that people “voted seven times in elections and referendums and now their votes have been simply annulled and Egypt's first president-elect has been detained in an unknown place”. “This is a setback for democracy,” he argued. An adviser to the grand imam of Al-Azhar, however, said that the Brotherhood's refusal to accept the invitation to dialogue made the group responsible for the current deadlock. In the same vein, Ibrahim Negm, an adviser to Egypt's mufti, argued that setting pre-conditions for dialogue would only reduce the Brotherhood's chances of reaching national reconciliation and could lead to more chaos and bloodshed. “The Brotherhood has a problem accepting the new reality,” Negm said. “They need to get out of this state of denial and engage in negotiation. Dialogue remains the only, and perhaps the last, way to curb the chaos and bloodshed.” Negm similarly argued that the Brotherhood should not object to the initiative being held under the umbrella of the grand imam since his role stopped at being “just an interlocutor inviting dialogue among different views. He does not have a particular view or initiative of his own.” “Al-Azhar remains the only haven left for dialogue among the conflicting views,” Negm said, now that the government and international efforts have failed to defuse the stalemate. Negm insisted that the Brotherhood's pre-conditions for dialogue must be realistic. “There can be no going back in time, for that would only complicate matters further and result in more chaos and bloodshed,” Negm insisted. However, the Brotherhood remains adamant. “How can we trust a coup government to hold free elections, or a military that has already sided with one camp against the other,” Hassan asked. “How can you negotiate with people when you are putting them in jail, fabricating charges against them, and freezing their assets? What kind of reconciliation is that?” Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafei, senior adviser to the grand imam of Al-Azhar and a member of the Al-Azhar Senior Scholars Association, agreed. Al-Shafei, who has insisted that the 30 June Revolution was “a carefully plotted military coup under public cover that started a year ago when Morsi took over the presidency”, said in a statement on Al-Jazeera recently that he would not initiate any reconciliation before Morsi's release and the halting of what he called the “arbitrary and illegal arrests” of Muslim Brotherhood members. He also called for an end to the recent clampdown on the religious satellite channels and pro-Morsi media outlets.