No one can deny the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 1952 revolution by the free officers who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood. This revolution was used to propagate the Wahhabi ideology in Egypt by developing Al-Azhar and establishing Al-Azhar university where the study was limited to Muslims only. Moreover, the Saudi Arabia opened its doors to the Egyptian workers where they absorbed the cultural backwardness of Wahhabism and spread Hijab, Naqab, beard and jilbab.
After the revolution of June 30, Egyptian government has been seeking the blessings of the clerics and worked hard to fight and resist terrorism but due to the failure of the law and the police to face terrorism the National Council to combat terrorism and extremism was established. However, the membership of the church in this council raises many questions concerning the role of the church in terrorism. I believe this membership only aims to use the approval of the church on its decisions and promote this before the whole world. Yet, this can embarrass His Holiness Pope Twadros II and the church before its congregation, especially in the Diaspora.
The council also includes Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, who has not been able to improve the religious Wahhabi discourse that was built in Egypt for more than sixty years. Al-Tayeb aims to pass al-Azhar law to combat hatred and violence that protects the Islamic clerics when exposed to criticism.
The inclusion of clergymen in state councils will justify terrorism and acquit terrorists rather than eliminate terrorism. This happened in Beit al-Eila, the Family House, which failed to deter sectarian strife that some clerics were responsible for. Such believe in the effectiveness of clergy led recently to the scandal of the fatwa booths in the metro stations. We may congratulate the Egyptians soon on the law of Al-Azhar to combat hatred and violence, which may be guarded by Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice body to achieve the Saudi vision of Egypt.
