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Islamic Supreme Council of America Cements Ties
with Al-Azhar, Mufti and Religious Ministry of Egypt

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A delegation from the Islamic Supreme Council of America, including chairman Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, met with Shaykh al-Azhar As-Sayyid Tantawi on February 18 at his office in al-Azhar ash-Sharif. The delegation was graciously received with great hospitality in the halls of the oldest Islamic university in the world. ISCA Chairman Shaykh Hisham Kabbani present As-Sayyid Tantawi with a personal invitation to attend the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference. As-Sayyid Tantawi graciously accepted the invitation. He noted that his time is very restricted due to his busy schedule, but that if he is unable to attend,  he will send a delegation of ulama to the conference to represent al-Azhar ash-Sharif.

Discussing fiqh issues with
Shaykh al-Azhar As-Sayyid
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 The ISCA delegation presented Shaykh Al-Azhar several issues of importance to Muslims in America for consideration.

The same afternoon, the conference chairman accompanied by the ISCA delegation of four people, hosted by Shaykh Salah Ed Din Mahmoud an-Nassar, head of  `Aqida Faculty for Imam post-graduate training, visited the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Egypt, Shaykh Farid Wasil and presented him with an invitation to the August conference. He was happy to accept the invitation and requested the final conference program before finalizing his decision.

The Islamic Supreme Council delegation discussed several important issues with His Eminence, the Grand Mufti of Egypt:

  1. the importance of unity on the moon sighting
  2. the importance on the direction of qiblah in the US, on which they are preparing a fatwa;
  3. the misunderstanding of the "circumcision" of women vis-a-vis what has been brought up in the newspapers and the real facts and information regarding this subject;
  4. the importance of keeping the identity of schools of thought, from which each individual is free to choose not to dispute and to label one another with tahrim, tashrik and kufr;
  5. an issue of great concern in our time: banks, interest,  the principles that apply to these areas and the direction al-Azhar ash-Sharif is taking in dealing with these issues in detail.
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani discussed with the Grand Mufti the need for the Dar al-Ifta of Egypt to help in guiding the Muslims of the US in fatawa and ijtihad. The delegation was successful in establishing a direct link between ISCA and the Dar al-Ifta in order to clarify all Islamic issues through the Mufti. The Mufti will send  fiqh issues of concern (masa'il) to ulama to give their opinions on each subject.

The ISCA delegation presented the Muslim Magazine to the Grand Mufti.  He was very pleased with the quality and beauty of the magazine.

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 Shaykh Hisham discusses the Muslim Magazine with Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shaykh Farid Wasil.

He suggested that in order to increase its connection to the Islamic identity and heritage, which in essence is the Quran, some of the magazine should be written in Arabic. Therefore the Religious Ministry of Egypt will support tthe Muslim Magazine in supplying Arabic articles and to develop a full Arabic-language section.

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zaqouq1.jpg (72325 bytes)		 The next day the delegation visited with Minister of Religious Affairs, Dr. Mahmoud Zaqzuq, who was extremely gracious in hosting ISCA Chairman Shaykh Kabbani  and his entourage. He was most honored to be invited as a guest speaker at the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference and accepted, stating that in the unlikely case he is unable to attend, the First Secretary of the Religious Ministry, Dr. Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz Salem, would represent the Ministry in an official capacity.

Here Dr. Zaqzuq greets ISCA chairman and studies the ISCA charter.

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zaqzouq.jpg (65117 bytes) The following day, Shaykh Hisham and the delegation met with Undersecretary of Religious Affairs, Dr. Abdul Rashid Salem. They continued the discussion which had begun the previous day with the Minister, Dr. Zaqzuq and the Undersecretary confirmed his attendance at the upcoming unity conference.

Dr. Abdul Rashid Salem with Shaykh Kabbani.

[Photos from Shaykh Hisham Kabbani's Egypt Trip]

© Islamic Supreme Council of America and As-Sunna Foundation of America