CAIRO: Four Egyptian Sheikhs from Al Azhar have been denied American visas by the Cairo embassy, the Islamic institution reported in a statement. According to details now emerging, four out of 80 Azhar Sheikhs and Imams chosen by the Egyptian government's ministry of endowments to revive “the nights of the Holy Month of Ramadan” in the United States. The move has left the American embassy in Cairo scrambling to buffer the massive criticism already surfacing in the country. “So much for Obama's goodwill toward Islam,” a Muslim Brotherhood blogger told Bikya Masr late Saturday night. He argued that this move to restrict open travel to the U.S. for established Muslim clerics is an “atrocity” and “must be looked into” in order to understand the decision. According to the American embassy in Cairo, investigations into the religious leaders is still being undertaken in order to ensure there were “no obstacles” in allowing for travel, but Azhar has said it would be impossible for the clerics to travel even if the visas were issued next month. The 80 Islamic leaders were scheduled to travel to the U.S. in order to prepare for the “Nights of Ramadan” festival that has been canceled since 2001 in protest of America's tightening of entry requirments. This would have reopened the popular event. The four preachers are Sheikh Abdul Hamid Al-Atrash, the head of Al-Azhar's Fatwa Committee, Sheikh Ibrahim Al Fayyoumi, Secretary General of the Islamic Research Academy, Sheikh Hassan Ibrahim Hassanein and Sheikh Abdul Rahim Abdul Wahab, who were due to be distributed at the al-Faruq mosque in Texas, the Islamic Center of Jersey, New York City, Abu Bakr Siddiq Mosque in New York and the Islamic Center in Washington respectively. “This is a travesty and if Obama is to be honest about his coming of age with the Islamic world, then they should be allowed to travel as anyone else would be,” the blogger added. The American embassy here has been under increased scrutiny in recent years as a number of Muslim Egyptians have argued that Coptic officials working in the visa section have denied them access to travel to the U.S. These criticisms have been denied by the embassy. Bloggers and activists on Twitter have spoken out, including one saying “Azhar sheikhs banned from travel to U.S. Good call. Yeah Scobey doo doo,” in a jab at Ambassador Margaret Scobey. “It doesn't matter, what is needed is more communication between all groups and officials. We should look at this as an opportunity to open a dialogue between America and Islam,” a spokesperson from Al Azhar said. BM
