The Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Tantawi died yesterday of a heart attack in Riyadh. As Grand Imam, he was generally accepted as the most senior cleric in the Sunni world because of the prestige of Al Azhar University which is an enormous establishment enrolling hundreds of thousands of students. Interestingly, Al Azhar was first established by the Ismaili Fatimids as a Shiite institution a thousand years ago. It was only after Saladin defeated the Fatimids in the 12th century that it became Sunni.
Sheikh Tantawi was a thoughtful leader and courageous in taking positions which were sometimes unpopular. He thought well of Singapore and delivered the Inaugural MUIS Lecture in 2006
I had the privilege of meeting him four times, the first time in the early 90's when he was the Grand Mufti of Egypt. My second meeting with him was in 2002 not long after Sep 11. His assistant who interpreted for me had just come back to Cairo from New York where he had to endure constant harrassment. My third meeting with the Grand Imam was arranged the day before by my good friend, Finance Minister Yousef Boutros-Ghali, a Coptic.
My last meeting with the Grand Imam was in Singapore after he delivered the MUIS lecture.
We have lost a good leader, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
George Yeo
Comments