Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called on religious institutions to attach great importance to the renewal of religious discourse, warning that not doing so will leave room for false preachers to mislead youth.
This came in a speech delivered by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on behalf of Sisi during a high-level conference hosted by Al-Azhar, Egypt’s top Islamic institution.
The conference, dubbed “Al-Azhar International Conference on Renovation of Islamic Thought” was attended by a number of top leaders, prominent political and religious figures, and representatives of the Awqaf (Endowments) Ministry and Islamic councils from 41 Arab and Islamic countries.
“President Sisi urges accelerating efforts to renovate religious discourse, warning that procrastination would give the opportunity to those who claim knowledge to brainwash youth into adopting wrong beliefs and misconception of religion,” Madbouli said on behalf of the president.
The prime minister added that the president hopes that this conference will be followed by other annual conferences calling for the renovation of religious thought.
Explaining the mechanism of renovation, Madbouli said the renovation does not target the constants of religion. It instead aims at renovating behaviors and dealings, the prime minister said, adding that Fatwas (religious opinions) change from a country to another and from time to another.
Sisi has repeatedly called for developing religious discourse, especially that of Islam, and addressing religious misconceptions used by some extremist groups to justify their terrorist acts and deceive the youth.
The calls for renewing religious discourse, endorsed by the Ministry of Endowments (Awaqf Ministry), are believed to be part of the state’s war against terrorism.
The main themes of the conference include innovation concepts and mechanisms, the dismantling of misconceptions, women's and family issues and the role of international, religious and academic institutions in renewing Islamic thought.
