CAIRO - The news that Tajikistan has withdrawn its students from Al-Azhar University has incurred the wrath of some scholars, especially as it's been rumoured that the reason for their withdrawal is that fundamentalist movements have penetrated this prestigious educational establishment. Al-Azhar, led by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, has always had a reputation for moderation, as well as being a Mecca for Muslim students from around the world thirsty for knowledge. Tajakistan says that it has repatriated more than 100 students who were studying illegally in Egypt, as part of the governmental drive in that country to limit the influence of foreign schools. The students were sent packing after Dushanbe asked Cairo to tell them to return. Meanwhile, many respected scholars have leapt to the defence of Al-Azhar, stressing that the university knows how to protect itself against penetration by fundamentalists. “If Tajakistan's students have been withdrawn because of claims of fundamentalist penetration, this doesn't affect the high standards of Al-Azhar,” Mohamed el-Shehat, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Affairs Council, told the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Shorouq. “Al-Azhar is well known for its moderation and a methodology based solely on the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna, the way the Prophet Mohamed lived and behaved,” he added. Not only el-Shehat, but many scholars from Al-Azhar and other institutions have spoken out in defence of the university and Islam in general, warning of the dangers of fundamentalist movements that can transform ordinary young men into terrorists. “This talk of penetration is baseless,” Abdel-Moeti Bayoumi, a member of the influential Islamic Research Centre, told the same newspaper. “Al-Azhar will never allow such a thing to happen. Anyone who suggests otherwise is insane.” Thousands of students from different countries come and study at Al-Azhar. If this university really has been penetrated by fundamentalists, why didn't Tajikistan withdraw its students earlier? And why hasn't a country like Malaysia, which has many students at Al-Azhar, followed suit? “The whole of society, not Al-Azhar, has been penetrated,” Professor of Islamic Philosophy at Al-Azhar University Amna Nosseir said. “The mood is mixed, due to the spread of media and satellite channels, as well as more openness and the exchange of ideas and cultures between neighbouring countries.”
