Ashraf Abo Arafe
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi Thursday 7/11/2019 attended a celebration held at Manara International Conference Center marking Mawlid al-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed, organized by the Ministry of Awqaf. President Sisi will address the celebration and honor a number of Egyptian and African figures.
The celebration is attended by Prime Minister Dr Mostafa Madbouli, House of Representatives Speaker Dr Ali Abdel Aal, Al Azhar Grand Imam Dr Ahmed el Tayyeb, Mufti of Egypt Dr Shawki Allam in addition to Minister of Awqaf Dr Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa and a number of other ministers and representatives of the Church, beside ambassadors of some Islamic and Arab countries in Cairo, Al Azhar and Awqaf leaderships and clerics.
Minister of Awqaf Dr Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said the Islamic nation is in dire need of a real revolution in religious thinking, referring to hardline and extremist thought and the wrong and twisted interpretation of religious texts by terrorist groups.
Addressing the Prophet’s birth anniversary (Mawlid al-Nabi) celebration, the minister said such revolution is needed to bring the religious discourse back on track.
He cited the ministry’s plan to create a knowledge mechanism based on the right understanding of texts through analysis and meditation.
Dr Gomaa stressed that only well-informed people should speak about public affairs, noting the ministry’s serious training and culture programs that aim to build an enlightened generation of ulemas, five of whom will be honored by the president today.
Any religious measure should take into consideration the social, national and international aspects in order to avoid individual hasty fatwas (religious opinion) pertaining to public affairs that conflict with laws or international accords and do not go in line with the teachings of Islam, he said.
