Cairo - The Grand Imam, Dr. ‘Ahmed Al-Tayeb' said that the last visit of Al-Azhar delegation to Germany was a hallmark between Egypt and Germany in general and between Al-Azhar and the German cultural and religious institutions in particular. He praised the willingness of the German mentality to accept the other's visions and not to exclude them. During his reception today, the German Parliament (Bundestag) Vice-President from the Christian Union Party, ‘Johannes Zinghammer', explained that Al-Azhar is a deep-rooted academic institution which maintains the purity of Islam and which does not have any political or partisan agendas showing that Al-Azhar education is based on dialogue, intellectual pluralism, openness to doctrines and other religions and that Al-Azhar approach protected Al-Azhar mentality from ditching and from fanaticism to one doctrine against another. He also pointed to the necessity of facing extremism and terrorism with all their shapes and types and said that will not be achieved unless there is a sincere intention and a real desire for spreading peace in the whole world indicating that Al-Azhar is willing to train German Imams on confronting extremist thoughts and on dealing with a number of important issues such as citizenship and coexistence. In addition, it is possible to establish a cultural center for teaching Arabic language and the right Islamic culture in Germany and to offer a number of scholarships to the Muslims' children there to study at the university. From his side, the Vice-President of the German Parliament confirmed that Al-Azhar is the most important religious institution in the Islamic World and therefore, it is essential to be bound by close ties with it. He added that with deep respect, Germans follow up the achievements of the prestigious institution of Al-Azhar for the dissemination of the values of coexistence, tolerance and moderation in the world and they remember the Grand Imam's sermon, which showed the great esteem he enjoys, in the German Parliament during his visit to Germany last year. He also added that Egypt is an encouraging model of peaceful and secure coexistence between Muslims and Christians.
