[Al Ahram] Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam said on Thursday any attack on the Al-Azhar Institution or its head, Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, "undermines Egypt's security."Allam, who serves as the first elected Grand Mufti since early March, warned in a Thursday statement that any attempt to pull Al-Azhar into a "political game" would come to no avail. He asserted, that Al-Azhar "will always remain an institution dedicated to the nation at whole," in addition to standing "at equal footing from all political factions."
He further called on all complaints against Al-Azhar to be addressed with legitimate and peaceful means and to maintain the principles of Al-Azhar, as the leading Sunni Islamic institution in the world, upholds.
"We call on all Egyptians to refrain from dragging Al-Azhar into political matters and grievances because this is the only way in which the moderate version of Islam and our institution's independence will persist," Allam asserted.
Allam's statements come amidst increasing calls by many of Al-Azhar University students and other commentators, demanding for the stepping down of El-Tayeb, following a massive food poisoning scandal on Monday.