Tuesday with mufti

Posted by Michael Tackett at 8 am CDT

CAIRO--It was a Tuesday with Mufti.

Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, a wise man of the Muslim world, was holding forth in a rare interview with American journalists, on the campus of al-Azhar University, a 1,000-year-old college of Islamic doctrine. Lean and standing more than 6-foot tall, with a serious and authoritative mien, he is one of the most important religious figures in Egypt and his views are respected throughout the Islam.

In addition to his mastery of religion, though, he also demonstrated deft political skills in the more than an hour that he took questions. It was part interview, part lecture and always a dextrous display of rhetorical skills.

Whether the issue was terrorism, church and state separation, suicide bombings, female circumcision or the Bush Administration policy in the Middle East, his answers flowed easily forth in a manner that was a mix of imperious and compassionate.

"As a mufti I am used to answering people's questions," he said. "We live in a global world."

His responses had the sound-bite tested quality of a man who knew well how to craft a message.

"We are totally against terrorism," he said. "...Now the term is an Islamic terrorists. Why don't you say a Catholic terrorist or a Protestant terrorist?'

Some fear that he and others would like to see Egypt become an Islamic state. What of that prospect? "Democracy doesn't tell you do not be a religious person," he said. "I think Mr. Bush is very religious."

Like seemingly everyone Egyptian, he opposes the war in Iraq. "This is a big problem. I don't know what the solution is. We can't tell where the truth is. The blood is up to the knees. My heart is breaking. I hope the American youth go home and that is the end of the problem."

The Mufti had been in the news most recently for his fatwa reported in some Egyptian press as a possible call for the destruction of statues, a potentially crippling edict in a nation that derives much of its income from the tourism generated by visitors to its antiquities.

The Mufti firmly said that he had been misquoted.

The fatwa related to statues, he said, was merely among the 7,000 a month that he issues on matters that range whether a woman should consider herself divorced to the nature of jihad. A staff of 10 helps him handle the volume.

And they exploit technology to reach his followers. "We deliver fatwas by all means - oral, fax, e-mail or website," he said through an Egyptian interpreter. His sermons are available on tape or CD.

He clearly saw some value granting an audience that is a prime source of news in the United States. He allowed himself to be filmed and his audio recorded. He insisted that Islam is a religion of peace and that words so common to Islam, like the fatwa and the mujahadeen, have been wrongly demonized.

Islam, he said, has certain immutable tenents, such as abstinence from alcohol. "We cannot change that," he said. But on other matters, like the statues, there is room for nuance.

There are longstanding fatwas against statute worship for Muslims. But the Mufti said he was not calling for the destruction of existing statutes and certainly not the Egyptian antiquities.

"We would not destroy our Pharaonic monuments," he said. "We find it really funny that the media now focuses attention on a fatwa that has been there for 14 centuries. And why are you so concerned about this issue? When the Taliban destroyed statutes, we were the first to speak out against them.

"When people open a museum and put statutes in them, I respect that," he said. "But why would you not respect me if I were to think in another way?"

He talked about political issues, but only selectively. When asked about the renewal last week of Egypt's "Emergency Law" which has been in effect since 1981 and gives the government extraordinary powers to restrict the rights of citizens, he swept the question away. "This is a political issue," he said. For clarity on matters related to Islam, such as the true meaning of jihad, he referred us to his website.

He called suicide bombings a "crime. "There is a difference between fighting for a specific right and just going to blow yourself up and that must be punished." Some other observers here said that he might express another view to a Muslim audience.

And he said that female circumcision is not required by Islamic law, "We should fight it," he said..

Whom does he consider the mujahadeen? "

"The Egyptian Army when they liberated Sinai from Israel."

What about the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization of growing political power that recently won 20 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections?

"Can we judge people by their intentions?" But if someone is doing good we should keep our hands off....but if someone is doing wrong, we should step in and punish."

Our time was almost up. The Mufti said he enjoyed the session.

"The more we discuss, the more the ice melts," he said.

Then the Mufti was gone.

(Photo by Randa Shaath from the al-Ahram Weekly On-line)