MANAMA - Islamic countries are keen to invite scholars from Egypt's Al-Azhar, the Muslim world's prestigious institution, because such clerics preach moderate interpretations of the Holy Qur'an, according to an Egyptian cleric who has been preaching in Bahrain for nine years and the broader Gulf region for more than two decades. “Scholars from Al-Azhar and Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments are welcome at Islamic centres in Europe, the US and across the Islamic world, not only during the month of Ramadan but throughout the year, and are well-known for being moderate preachers,” added Sheikh Mesbah Mohamed Ismail. Ismail is the Imam and religious guide of Ahmed Al-Fatih Islamic Centre and Bahrain's Grand Mosque. “Al-Azhar scholars are also invited to preach across the Muslim countries in Asia, Africa and at Islamic centres in South America, Russia and republic of the former Soviet Union,” he told The Egyptian Gazette. Al-Azhar is the most prestigious seat of religious learning in the Islamic world, teaching moderate interpretations of most schools of Islamic jurisprudence, especially the Sunni ones. Bahrain receives many Egyptian Muslim clerics each Ramadan to deliver sermons and lectures and they are respected across Gulf countries not only as experienced in Islam's teachings, but also as moderate in their perspectives, Sheikh Mesbah was in Kuwait before moving to Bahrain. Mesbah, who wear the traditional dress of Al-Azhar at official events only, wears the typical clothing of the Gulf when he gives his regular lessons at Al-Fatih Mosque in the Bahraini capital of Manama, on everything from Islam's perspective on non-Muslims and women, to the behaviour of devoted but moderate Muslims. Locals in Bahrain keen to seek his guidance regarding even the most personal issues. Mesbah's affinity with locals and expatriates alike is clear in their desire to shake hands with him after the lessons and to ask about things that might be private matters. “I like to attend Sheikh Mesbah's lessons for the simplicity of his way of explaining Islamic rules,” Rashid, a 38-year old Bahraini, told this newspaper. Clerics in Al-Azhar outfits are increasingly seen in Ramadan at religious events in Egypt and other Muslim countries. A programme was organised by Bahrain's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, for Sheikh Ibrahim Ramadan Al-Ghannam, the general director of religious guidance in the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments, in mosques throughout the Gulf. Attendance in lectures delivered by Al-Ghannam was notably high. The same applied to a lecture delivered last week by the famed Egyptian preacher Mohamed Hussein Yaqoub in Manama. Other Egyptian scholars and clerics who recite the Holy Qur'an in Bahrain during Ramadan include Sheikh Hamdi Aql, Sheikh Faragallah Mamoud, Sheikh Youssef Mohamed Badr, Sheikh Fouad Abdel-Azim Mohamed, Sheikh Mohamed Abdel-Mawgoud, and Sheikh Mohamed Al-Tablawi. All of them are well-known either as moderate preachers or Qur'an reciters pleasant voices. The other day one of them thrilled locals and Muslims of various nationalities at Al-Fatih Mosque in Manama, which has a large number of Muslim expatriates from the Middle East and Asia. Egyptian clerics are noted for reciting the Qur'an in accordance with correct rules of reciting.
