(AKI) - A Muslim religious edict (fatwa) issued by Mohammed Sayyed Al Tantawi, Sheikh of Al Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni learning, has pitted Muslim moderates and Shiites against Sunnis in Egypt. The fatwa states that "any Muslim offending the Prophet Mohamed or one of his associates must be considered an infidel" because "accusing the Prophet's followers of being liars amounts to questioning the truthfulness of the Koran itself." Some Shiite clerics have cast doubt on some of those associated with the Prophet during his lifetime.Egyptian weekly 'Al Fajr' (Dawn) a few weeks ago published an article by Mohamed el Baz, in which he accused Abu Huraya, one of Mohammed's followers - and one of the main sources of 'hadith', which relate the Prophet's words and actions that are key to establish the Muslim way of life - of being a liar.
Even though there is no official data on the Shiite population in Sunni-majority Egypt, estimates range between 5,000 and 7,000 out of the 72 million Egyptian Muslims. Overall, the Shiites make up about 15 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
Under the fatwa, el Baz can be accused of being an infidel. The researcher for his part has slammed the edict as "a way to go back to the Middle Ages" saying that "nobody has the right to tell a Muslim that they are an infidel."
Al Baz, according to whom "fundamentalists are putting pressure on Tantawi so that he issues similar fatwas," has told the local press that "the sheikh should learn to clarify that anything they say is their own personal opinion and not a principle of Islam."
'Al Fajr' is an independent Egyptian weekly. In its first edition on October 2005, Al Fajr published on its front page six of the 12 cartoons satirizing the Prohet originally published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, which sparked violent Muslim protests worldwide.