Al-Azhar's Renewal of Religious Discourse and Power after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

Abstract

This paper focuses on al-Azhar's role in renewing religious discourse after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. I will focus on whether or not the religious discourse is changing in al-Azhar (the Sunni Islamic institution) and its role in spreading religious awareness to engage with everyday Egyptians, gaining power, responding to national and international pressure to engage in counterterrorism, and fulfilling state mandates. This paper aims to compare the discourse espoused by the scholars at al-Azhar to those I will term the modernists and the extremists. I will examine five sections of this discourse: turath, extremism, politics, economics, and women.This paper will provide an overview of the development of religious discourse in al-Azhar, a Sunni Islamic institution, within the last ten years. The content below will also address newly-created sectors in the university, such as the Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism, the al-Azhar Fatwa Center, the al-Azhar Translation Center, the al-Azhar Media Center, the riwāqs system (traditionalist study circles at al-Azhar Mosque), and the Institute of Islamic Sciences. The paper will also discuss national and international cooperation and partnerships that al-Azhar establishes. I argue that the independence al-Azhar seized after the Egyptian revolution and the power entrusted to the Senior Scholars substantially impacted the development of free religious discourse. An outcome of this newfound independence has been the enhancement of al-Azhar's overall credibility in the view of the Egyptian public. It has transformed the institution into a critical player in resolving contemporary social, religious, and political issues.