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.”