Bijzondere procedure : Gesprek met Grand Mufti van Egypte, dr. Shawky Allam

De vergadering is geweest

20 april 2015
13:00 - 14:00 uur
Locatie: Schoutenkamer
Commissie: Buitenlandse Zaken

Bijlage

Deelnemers

  • H. van Bommel (SP)
  • J.H. ten Broeke (VVD)
  • M. Servaes (PvdA)

Agendapunten

  1. 1

    Gesprek met Grand Mufti van Egypte, dr. Shawky Allam

    Het lid van Bommel ontvangt in het kader van de bijzondere procedure de Groot Mufti van Egypte, dr. Shawky Allam.

    Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam is the 19th and current Grand Mufti of Egypt through Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah (educational institute founded to represent Islam and a center for Islamic legal research since its establishment in 1313), succeeding Ali Gomaa in February 2013.
    Allam was born in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira. He received his PhD in 1996 from the Al-Azhar University in Jurisprudence and Sharia law. Prior to his appointment, he served as the chairman of the Department of Jurisprudence at the School of Sharia at Al-Azhar University’s Tanta branch. Allam is a Sufi.
    In February 2013, he was elected by Al Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars replacing outgoing grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa. The bylaws of Al-Azhar say the new Grand Mufti must be under the age of 60; have worked continuously inside the religious establishment following his education; be a scholar of both Jurisprudence and Sharia law; and be fluent in a second language other than Arabic. This makes the first time that the Grand Mufti has been elected by Islamic scholars rather than appointed by the president.
    The position of Grand Mufti is seen as very influential in Egypt as well as throughout the Arab and Islamic world. The Grand Mufti is the government's first and primary source of religious authority, is seen as the symbolic religious representative of the government, and is able to issue fatwas on religious matters. His office, the Dar al Ifta (literally, the house of fatwas), a government agency charged with issuing religious legal opinions on any question to Muslims who ask for them, issues some 5.000 fatwas a week, including both the official ones that he himself crafts on important issues and the more routine ones handled via phone and Internet by a dozen or so subordinate muftis. In addition to issuing fatwas, the Grand Mufti of Egypt is responsible under Egyptian law for reviewing all death sentences in Egypt.