Al-Azhar, Brotherhood Scholars Reject Egyptian Islamist Fatwa

Muslim clergymen and scholars from Egypt's al-Azhar University and its influential Muslim Brotherhood have rejected a fatwa recently issued by an Islamist imam forbidding the country's Muslims from voting for nominal Muslims or Copts (amongst others) in the upcoming Egyptian parliamentary elections. More here.

Al-Azhar Announces Guidance Sessions for Copts Converting to Islam

Cairo's famous Al-Azhar University has announced that it will be organizing guidance sessions for Copts wishing to convert to Islam that will include their Coptic Orthodox clergymen and members of their families. It is hoped that the sessions will help avoid the development of situations where Copts seeking to divorce their spouses or avoid other issues convert to Islam and then seek to revert, only to find that they cannot do so legally. More here.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam Meets with Qena Attack Victim

Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb of Egypt's al-Azhar University has met with Ayman Anwar Metari, who was attacked last week in Qena, and stated that he will undergo plastic surgery for his missing ear at the University's hospital. More here.

Egyptian Interior Ministry to Establish Joint Muslim/Orthodox Committee

The Egyptian Interior Ministry has agreed to establish a committee comprised of clerics of al-Azhar University and the Coptic Orthodox Church to deal with "ethnic problems" between Egypt's Arab Muslim majority and its large Coptic Orthodox minority. The agreement between the Ministry and Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) comes in the wake of an attack on a Copt, Ayman Anwar Metari, in the Upper Egyptian city of Qena. Although he survived the attack, Mr. Metari had an ear cut off and also had his home and car burned by his attackers. More here.

Mubarak Calls for Toning Down of Religious Rhetoric

According to sources inside the Church of Egypt at a recent meeting with Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) President Hosni Mubarak asked him to tone down religious rhetoric due to the current tensions within Egyptian society. He has reportedly asked the Minister of Religious Endowments and the head of al-Azhar University to do the same. More here.

Muslim Brotherhood Defends Coptic Orthodox Church

Muslim religious leaders in Egypt have issued statements in support of the Coptic Orthodox Church following threats against the Copts from an Al Qaeda affiliate in US-occupied Iraq. The Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement in Egypt, said that it was "stressing to all, and primarily [to] Muslims, that the protection of holy places of all monotheistic religions is the mission of the majority of Muslims," whilst the leader of Egypt's famous al-Azhar University said that the threats undermined Egyptian national unity. The threats were issued after the wives of Coptic Orthodox priests kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam were rescued and returned to their families, with Al Qaeda claiming the rescues were against the women's wills. The full story here.