01-Contents Page.indd - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre

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HIS EMINENCE PROFESSOR DR SHEIKH AHMAD
MUHAMMAD AL TAYEB
Grand Sheikh of the Al Azhar University,
Grand Imam of the Al Azhar Mosque
Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad al Tayeb was appointed as
Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar in March 2010, after the passing
of his predecessor, Dr Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi.
He was formerly the president of the Al Azhar for seven
years and prior to that, served for two years as the second
most powerful cleric in Egypt as its Grand Mufti.
Al Tayeb’s scholarly influence as a leading intellectual
of Sunni Islam spans the globe. He has served as the
dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Aswan, and the
theology faculty of the International Islamic University
in Pakistan. He has also taught in universities in Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh
al Tayeb holds a PhD in Islamic philosophy from Sorbonne
University.
Country: Egypt
Date of Birth: 1946
Source of Influence: Administrative
Influence: Highest scholarly
authority for a majority of
Sunni Muslims, runs the foremost
Sunni Islamic university
with close to 400,000 students
School of Thought: Traditional
Sunni
Rank: 2010:7 · 2009:25 �
Advocate of Traditional Islam
Al Tayeb has emphasised his mission to promote traditional Islam since becoming Grand
Sheikh. He has since issued decisions to teach all four schools of traditional Islamic thought
at Al Azhar University, while stressing the importance of teaching students about Islamic
heritage—considering Al Azhar graduates as ambassadors of Islam to the world.
Spiritual Leader of the Al Azhar University
Sheikh al Tayeb leads the second-oldest university in the world, where teaching has continued
without interruption since 975 CE. Al Azhar represents the center of Sunni Islamic
jurisprudence. It is a key institution that issues authoritative religious rulings and has provided
extensive Islamic education to Egyptian and international students since its inception
over a millennium ago. This history makes Al Azhar a bastion of Sunni traditionalism. The
university is considered one of the most prominent Islamic educational institutions, and the
foremost center of Sunni Muslim scholarship in the world.
Administers the Al Azhar Education Network
Al Azhar is the second oldest, and currently the largest, university in the world, having risen
from a group of three schools in the 1950s to its current state with 72 feeder schools, and close
to 400,000 students studying there at any one time. Including schools that are part of Al
Azhar waqf initiatives there are close to 2 million students. This immense size and grounded
respect make the head of Al Azhar an extraordinarily powerful and academically influential
person. In spite of his huge workload as president, and now as Grand Sheikh, al Tayeb publishes
regularly in numerous academic journals, dealing particularly with the reception of
Islamic culture and philosophy in the Western world.
Al Tayeb is also a member of the Egyptian Society of Philosophy, the Supreme Court of Islamic
Affairs and is the head of the Religious Committee at the Egyptian Radio and Television
Union.