How Did Azhar’s Sheikh Present Islam’s View on Women?

On January 31, 2022, the infamous pro-Sisi Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adeeb aired an episode where he kept assaulting al-Azhar’s views on women and domestic violence.

Adeeb cited part of a previous television episode of Azhar’s Grand Sheikh, Ahmed al-Tayeb, in which he presented the opinions of Muslim scholars on beating women to discipline disobedient wives.

Adeeb’s program also said al-Azhar stood against the issuance of a law to prevent domestic violence.

 

Misconception

The editor in chief of the Sawt al-Azhar (Voice of Azhar) journal, an official Azhar publication, Ahmed al-Sawy responded to Amr Adeeb’s episode.

Sawy confirmed that Tayeb’s words broadcasted through Adeeb’s program were taken out of context, and that his correct, clear and unequivocal opinion was later shown on many other channels and platforms.

He added that the false information caused a misunderstanding among the public, which led to backlash towards al-Azhar, especially from women on social media.

As a response, the journal headlined its first page and referred to Adeeb as “The Presenter of Silliness.”

"The Sawt al-Azhar newspaper exercised its right to criticize the media practice of Adeeb, as he was the one who moderated the discussion and chose his guests and showed his bias to one of the opinions without investigating accuracy," Sawy explained.

In its file, it counted the violations in which Adeeb occurred and summarized them in 12 professional violations, including broadcasting false news about the Azhar’s Sheikh encouragement of beating women, spreading rumors that Azhar stood against the issuance of a law to deter those who beat their wives, as well as managing a discussion about al-Azhar without a representative.

Al-Azhar also criticized Adeeb's attempt to distort the opinion of the Grand Sheikh and ignore his categorical statement in criminalizing domestic violence, and the fragmentation of the context to export an incorrect image of al-Azhar and its Sheikh.

 

'Correcting the Views'

The Azhar’s journal did not only criticize Adeeb’s show but also issued a special edition to clarify its views on women in Islam.

According to the journal, the 14 basic cases its Grand Sheikh advocates for include fighting violence against women, refusing the “house of obedience”, sexual harassment, abandoning the arbitrary divorce, defending women's senior positions.

It also includes ending the injustice of women's customs and traditions in the name of religion, correcting jurisprudence in polygamy, approving of women's travel without a man, refusing female genital mutilation, denying forced marriage and marriage of minors.

Azhar’s Grand Sheikh also fights the denial of women’s rights in inheritance, and women's share in the wealth of their husbands that contributed to their development.

Al-Azhar clarified that it advocates for prohibiting beating wives by law and allowing women to hold all higher positions when they have the competence and conditions of employment, including the presidency, fatwa and the judiciary.

 

Systemic War

Egyptian journalist Selim Azouz interprets the attack on Azhar as part of a systemic method to distort the image of Azhar and its Sheikh.

“Adeeb’s goal is to degrade the dignity of Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, and from time to time, they do so, at a time when the man complains that al-Azhar is trapped in the media and is not allowed to defend himself on satellite channels, or display religious rule in it,” Azouz wrote in an article in Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

“The target, then, is Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb in his person and his position, hence the fabrication of the battle to beat women, in the episode of the Saudi channel [MBC], presented by Amr Adeeb,” Azouz added.

“But the purpose is devilish, so the episode of the program Amr Adeeb, which is aimed primarily at wasting the dignity of the Sheikh of al-Azhar, he did not call a scholar to discuss the mater but came with someone who is manufactured in the security laboratories,” Azouz noted, referring to Islam Behery, an infamous secular activist known for fabricating his research.

"And if the highest court in the Egyptian state accused Behery of contempt of the Islamic religion, how can he be summoned to discuss an opinion concerning this religion? He left the subject aside and focused on the person of the Great Imam [Sheick], and that is what was required!” Azouz concluded.

“What is surprising is that the Sheikh of al-Azhar is exposed in a television program without being able to defend himself, and without being in the face of those who attack him who represent the other position,” he added.