Al-Azhar renews call for Shia-Sunni scholars’ meetings

Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb made the call in a meeting on Tuesday with Iraqi President Fuad Masum in Cairo, al-Ummah al-Akhbariya website reported.

He said such meetings are necessary for issuing Fatwas that eliminate issues resulting in sectarian tension in the Muslim world.

El-Tayeb also described Iraq as a great country in the Arab and Muslim world and reiterated al-Azhar’s readiness to support Iraqis in the face of attempts aimed at spreading discord.

Last year, senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi welcomed a call by el-Tayeb for a unity meeting of leading Sunni and Shia scholars.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi sent a letter to the Egyptian cleric, proposing a conference between top Shia and Sunni scholars “to review the most important obstacles in the way of Islamic unity” and “to set forth the most significant, necessary measures for reinforcing Islamic unity.”

The call by Tayeb had been aired on Egypt’s state TV on July 22, 2015, at the end of a series of programs during the holy month of Ramadan.