Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric

Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric

Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stressed that Egypt remains committed to its mission to improve religious rhetoric.

"This is a collaborative responsibility that requires concerted efforts so that we build together a bright and wise intellectual path … to face challenges and build the future state," Sisi said Sunday.

In a speech marking the Prophet’s birthday, the president urged religious authorities to double their efforts to spread tolerance and correct religious misconceptions.

Sisi noted that the message of Islam values knowledge and science, and that the first word in Quran is “read.”

He further underlined that awareness is a key factor for a nation’s stability and progress.

The president stressed the importance of confronting individuals who take the holy words out of context and those who seek to stray people away from performing "the divine commands of reconstruction and reform of the world in what is good for humanity as a whole."

For his part, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb shed light on the importance of saving Muslim communities from the inhumane conditions that have been imposed by "some people who claim they abide by the instructions of the Prophet, and his religion and jurisprudence, while they kill innocents."

Tayyeb slammed those individuals who "turn Allah's mosques to arenas for war where lives are lost, blood is shed, bodies shattered, and sanctities violated.”



Palestinian President Urges Hamas to Hand over its Arms

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves while walking on the day he holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 23,2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves while walking on the day he holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 23,2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
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Palestinian President Urges Hamas to Hand over its Arms

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves while walking on the day he holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 23,2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves while walking on the day he holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 23,2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas on Wednesday to cede responsibility for the Gaza Strip, hand over its arms to the Palestinian Authority and turn itself into a political party.
Hamas has refused calls in recent months by Israel and the United States to lay down its arms.
Abbas made his remarks in a speech during a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah at which he is expected to name a successor, part of efforts to answer international doubts over the Palestinian Authority's viability at a critical moment for the region.
"Hamas must hand over (its) Gaza responsibilities and hand over its arms to Palestinian Authority and transform into a political party," Reuters quoted Abbas as saying.
Abbas has criticized the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which he said gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza. Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack.
Hamas, which opposes Abbas' efforts at peacemaking with Israel, has accused him of cracking down against militant factions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It did not immediately comment on Abbas's new remarks.
Abbas urged world leaders to compel Israel to end the war in Gaza, pull put its forces and end the activities of Jewish settlements, adding that there can be no peace until the Palestinians establish a state in the borders that were in place before the 1967 Middle East war.