Part I - Al-Azhar University and Mosque Network
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2021
Summary
This part argues that the al-Azhari scholarly tradition remains the most vibrant in responding to a changing environment, while respecting the tradition's boundaries. Yet both its scholarly credentials and moral authority, which have been under pressure since 1961 nationalization of al-Azhar, are further threatened by al-Azhari senior leadership's support for General al-Sisi. Chapter 1 supports this analysis by presenting a detailed review of the al-Azhari leadership's response to the Arab Spring, its opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood government, and its subsequent endorsement of the al-Sisi regime and its highly controversial policies, including a proposed reform of the al-Azhari curriculum. Chapter 2 illustrates how al-Azhari tradition has historically best preserved the classical forms of Islamic learning: giving importance to the study of all four madhhabs has invested it with the flexibility to adapt to change. Chapter 3 analyzes the work of many al-Azhari scholars, both inside and outside the institution, such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi. It shows the active emphasis that these scholars place on the concept of fiqh al-wāqi’(jurisprudence of realities) and on the Islamic emphasis on “reasonableness” to argue for adjusting Islamic fiqh to the needs of modern times.
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- Information
- Modern Islamic Authority and Social Change, Volume 1Evolving Debates in Muslim Majority Countries, pp. 53 - 54Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2018