Al-Azhar is situated midway between two areas teeming with Islamic monuments: Al-Darb Al-Ahmar and Al-Gamaliya. In close proximity are the Husseiniya, the Mohamed Abu Dahab Mosque, Wakalat Al-Ghouri, the Palace of Qaitbay, Bayt Zainab Khatoun, the Mosque of Abdel Rahman Katkhouda and Bayt Al-Harawi. The mosque is the chief landmark of the Fatimid city of Cairo, founded in 969 AD. Over a thousand years ago, Jawhar Al-Siqili was charged with laying the foundations of a new capital city for the Caliph Al-Muezz li Din Allah. He began the construction of a mosque intended to serve as the centre for the dissemination of the Shia creed. It was named Al-Azhar, in honour of Fatma Al-Zahraa, daughter of the Prophet Mohamed. Construction took two years and the first Friday prayer was held on 7 Ramadan 361 AH (972 AD). Al-Azhar soon became a centre of learning and attracted many students, until the Fatimids were overthrown in 1171 and Salaheddin Al-Ayyubi, opposed to the Shia strictures and doctrines taught in Al-Azhar, sidelined the mosque and banned the holding of prayers in it. He also ordered the removal of the silver band in the mosque's mihrab on which were inscribed the names of the Fatimid caliphs. Al-Azhar's library fell into neglect and many manuscripts of Fatimid doctrine were destroyed. The Ayyubids introduced the madrasa/mosque complex to teach Sunni doctrine and jurisprudence, a model that quickly proliferated, but Al-Azhar continued to serve as a centre for Arabic language and education. Under the Mamelukes, Al-Azhar was rehabilitated. In 1226, Sultan Baybars ordered prayers to be resumed in Al-Azhar, after which the mosque gradually regained its status. In 1302 an earthquake damaged many mosques in Mameluke Cairo. Responsibility for the reconstruction of Al-Azhar was given to the Amir Salah. A madrasa was built along the northwestern wall of the mosque and a portion of the old wall removed to accommodate the new structure. Work began on the construction of another madrasa between 1332 and 1333. A new ablutions fountain was built for the main mosque, and prayer halls were constructed for Al-Azhar's schools and other annexes.
THE MOSQUE: Covering an area of 12,000 square metres, the mosque of Al-Azhar has eight doors and five minarets. It once had ten mihrabs, of which six remain. The more than 380 granite columns in the mosque have capitals taken from ancient Egyptian temples. Arcades, buttressed and gracefully vaulted, rest on a series of white granite columns. Today, Al-Azhar is double its original size, accretions of various Islamic architectural styles — a succession of riwaqs (student quarters), madrasas, mihrabs and minarets — having been added to what was originally a courtyard surrounded by three arcades, of which the widest runs along the qibla wall. The most substantive renovations were undertaken by Sultan Qaitbek. The northwestern door was demolished in order to construct one of the finest minarets in Cairo. The Mameluke sultan Qansuwa Al-Ghouri subsequently ordered the building of a two-headed minaret, the tallest of all Al-Azhar's minarets and a superb example of Mameluke architecture. The Ottomans also made important renovations and additions to Al-Azhar, creating several waqfs (religious trusts) to fund the construction and upkeep of the Al-Hanafiya Riwaq, Turkish Riwaq, Suleimaniya Riwaq, Riwaq Al-Sham and the ‘Amyan prayer hall. The greatest extension of the mosque began under Abdel Rahman Katkhuda when a dome was constructed and the Barbers' Gate, which now serves as the main entrance to the mosque, was built. Renovations and repairs were also made under Mohamed Ali Pasha and his successors. Under Abbas Helmi II a new library was built, as well as the largest of the mosque's riwaqs.
EDUCATION AT AL-AZHAR: Students at the mosque selected the teachers whose study circles they wanted to attend. There was no attendance requirement and it was not unusual for students to drop out of classes and return at a later time, sometimes after years had passed. Class hours, term lengths, curricula and years of study were not officially regulated. Once a student felt he was qualified to teach he asked for permission to move to the teacher's position at the centre of the circle. Anyone dissatisfied with the new mentor simply left the study circle. Novice mentors who attracted the most dedicated followers would be certified by the sheikh of Al-Azhar. The system remained unchanged until 1872 when Khedive Ismail introduced the first Law of Al-Azhar, which set the requirements necessary to obtain an “international certificate.” Students would henceforth be examined in 11 subjects, theology, jurisprudence, Hadith, exegesis, Arabic grammar and morphology, rhetoric and logic among them. The examinee would sit in the chair of the teacher while members of the examination committee assembled around him like students. As the examinee delivered a lecture, the examining sheikhs would draw him out in discussion of various branches of knowledge. An exam could last for hours, uninterrupted except by breaks for food or prayer. Once the examiners were satisfied that they had sufficient information for an assessment, they would assign a grade. Students who failed could re-sit their exams any number of times. In 1896, Abbas Helmi promulgated a law that set a lower age limit of 15 for students to enrol at Al-Azhar, and specified that they had to be literate and have memorised the Quran. The law introduced new subjects into the curriculum, including ethics, arithmetic and algebra, rhetoric and composition, Islamic history, the principles of geometry and geography. It also set the criteria for two distinct degrees: the Ahli (national), obtainable after eight years of study and which allowed its holders to serve as imams or preachers in mosques; and the Alemi (international), which required a minimum of 12 years of study and entitled the recipient to teach at Al-Azhar. A royal decree was issued in 1936, reorganising Al-Azhar and its subsidiaries, and charging them with the preservation of Islamic Sharia and its principles and branches, dissemination of the Arabic language and the education of ulema (religious scholars) who would be authorised to give instruction in theological and linguistic sciences. The decree established the authorities and competencies of the Council of Senior Ulema and established three colleges: the Faculty of Islamic Law, Faculty of the Theology and Arabic Language Faculty. Law 103 of 1961, issued under president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, placed new restrictions on Al-Azhar and its subsidiaries. The law identified Al-Azhar as “the major Islamic academic organisation responsible for the preservation, study, elucidation and dissemination of Islamic heritage.” Its second article established the Supreme Council of Al-Azhar, Islamic Research Academy and Al-Azhar Institutes Sector, bodies that still exist today.
LUMINARIES AND BATTLES: There have been 47 sheikhs of Al-Azhar since the post was created in 1101. At some points in history it took only a word from the grand imam to depose a ruler or keep him on the throne. Al-Azhar's political role was at no time more clear than under Grand Imam Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Hifni. When tensions between Ali Bey Al-Kebir (1728-1772) and other Mameluke emirs were on the verge of open warfare, Al-Hifni intervened. He reproached the Mameluke emirs and told them, “You are destroying the country with your antagonism.” They answered, “If we do not fight him, he will fight us.” Al-Hifni then dispatched a strongly worded letter to Ali Bey Al-Kebir, after which the crisis was resolved. Al-Azhar often served as a bulwark against tyranny. Sheikh Abdallah Al-Sharqawi served as grand imam from 1793 to 1812. He was a popular leader and was appointed head of the ten-member council that Napoleon created to gain popular support for his expedition. But Al-Sharqawi soon became a leader of the popular resistance against the French. Napoleon responded to Al-Sharqawi's switch by bombarding Al-Azhar with cannon and entering the sanctuary on horseback. French officers deliberately tethered their horses inside the mosque to humiliate Al-Azhar's leaders, a strategy that did not prevent Al-Sharqawi and the resistance from eventually defeating their occupiers. Following the expulsion of the French, Al-Sharqawi led the contingent of sheikhs whose influence secured Mohamed Ali's appointment as the Ottoman wali, though the grand imam made his support conditional on Mohamed Ali being a just ruler. When Al-Sharqawi grew too persistent in his demands that Mohamed Ali act fairly, Mohamed Ali dismissed him from his post. In 1881, Shamseddin Al-Imbabi was appointed grand imam, only to tender his resignation following the eruption of the Orabi rebellion. He was subsequently reappointed and made his strongest political statement when he issued a fatwa denouncing Khedive Tawfik as unfit to rule Egypt on the grounds that he had sold the country to foreigners. Sheikh Mahmoud Abul Fadl Al-Gizawi, who served as grand imam from 1917 to 1927, opposed King Fouad's attempts to declare himself Muslim caliph following the fall of the Ottomans. Al-Gizawi argued that Egypt, then under British occupation, was not an appropriate seat for the caliphate. He also refused British requests to close Al-Azhar University during the 1919 revolution and was instrumental in the passage of a law restricting the king's right to appoint the sheikh of Al-Azhar. Al-Gizawi's successor, Sheikh Mohamed Mustafa Al-Maraghi, served two terms, from 1928 to 1930 and from 1935 to 1945. He was 47 at the time of his first appointment. Al-Maraghi was one of the strongest defenders of the autonomy of Al-Azhar. “No one has authority over the sheikh of Al-Azhar but God,” he famously said. Al-Maraghi refused King Farouk's demand for a fatwa declaring it unlawful for Princess Farida to remarry after her divorce. When Farouq visited Maraghi in hospital, where the grand imam was recovering from a painful illness, the sheikh summoned the strength to shout: “I am not pleased by the divorce, but I do not have the power to prohibit the marriage. I cannot forbid what God sanctions.” Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltut (1958-1963) opposed Abdel-Nasser's attempts to limit Al-Azhar's autonomy and subordinate it to the state until he was forced to resign in 1963. Similarly, Sheikh Abdel Halim Mahmoud, grand imam from 1973 to 1978, took issue with President Anwar Sadat's attempts to limit the role of the grand imam. He also opposed changes to the personal status law on the grounds they conflicted with Sharia law. Sheikh Gad Al-Haqq Ali Gad Al-Haqq, grand imam from 1982 to 1996, authored several fatwas defying President Hosni Mubarak, including one that declared bank interest rates usury and prohibited under Islamic law. CLASHES WITH INTELLECTUALS: Al-Azhar famously clashed with Taha Hussein following the publication of On Jahili (Pre-Islamic) Poetry, in which the celebrated writer, political and social commentator and literary critic argued that jahili poetry was actually written after the emergence of Islam. Hussein's thesis outraged Al-Azhar's senior ulema, who began a lawsuit charging him with heresy. Though the court acquitted Hussein, the book was subsequently edited and the most contentious portions removed. Farag Foda sparked controversy with writings that espoused secularism and argued for the separation of religion and state. He was assassinated in 1992 by members of the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya. Earlier, Al-Azhar has claimed Foda's ideas were heretical and intended to sow strife in society. A society calling itself the Al-Azhar Ulema Front issued a proclamation declaring Foda an apostate. Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya used the proclamation to justify Foda's murder. Al-Azhar's battle with Naguib Mahfouz, who went on to win the Nobel Prize, was triggered by the novel The Children of Our Alley, which first appeared in serialised form in Al-Ahram in the 1950s. Senior Al-Azhar sheikhs demanded the newspaper halt publication, condemned Mahfouz as a heretic and apostate and demanded the novel be banned.
BATTLE FOR REFORM: Al-Azhar officials are under growing pressure to update their religious discourse and rid Al-Azhar's curricula of ideas that might foster violence or terrorism. The spread of Islamist extremism has forced Al-Azhar to adopt a more proactive role, though the efforts undertaken so far have had little, if any, impact on the ground. During Ramadan, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi criticised Al-Azhar for being too slow in its attempts to renew its religious discourse. Al-Azhar first began to devote attention to the issue in 2011, when it published a paper, “The Future of Egypt”, laying out the principles that should regulate the relationship between Islam and the state. The document supported the creation of a modern, democratic constitutional state based on the separation of powers. On 31 October 2011, Al-Azhar issued a second document, “The Arab Spring”, which addressed the relationship between the ruler and the ruled. “Confronting any patriotic, peaceful protest with force and shedding the blood of peaceful demonstrators is a breach of the charter of governance between the people and their rulers,” said the document. “It delegitimises the ruling authority and forfeits its right to remain in power.” It continued: “If the authority persists in its tyranny and unleashes a procession of injustice, hate, aggression and bloodshed of innocent people in order to perpetuate its illegitimate survival against the will of its people, that authority is guilty of the basest crimes and it is the right of the oppressed people to remove their despotic rulers, hold them to account and, if necessary, change the system in its entirety.” On 10 January 2012, Al-Azhar issued a third document, “General Rights”, addressing freedom of belief, freedom of opinion and expression and the right to conduct scientific research. The document was intended to serve as a guide for the constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution. A fourth paper, “The Renunciation of Violence”, appeared on 31 January 2013, and was signed by representatives of political forces, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Its aim was to halt the violence that had erupted in recent months and caused dozens of deaths. The document called for “the renunciation of violence in all forms, explicit and absolute condemnation of violence, and its criminalisation.” It went on to stipulate that the duty of the state and its security agencies is “to protect the security and safety of the people, to safeguard their constitutional rights and freedoms and to protect public and private property in the framework of respect for the law and human rights.” The most recent paper, issued on 13 June 2013, addressed the status of women in Islam. The flurry of documents had little, if any, effect. In an attempt to respond to the urgency of the situation, Al-Azhar has begun sponsoring meetings, seminars, conferences and other activities aimed at producing workable recommendations to help renew religious discourse. In the wake of every terrorist attack, Al-Azhar issues statements condemning the crimes committed against Egypt and other countries. Unfortunately, the attacks continue, and there is little hope of an immediate resolution to the crisis of religious discourse that has accumulated over decades.
