Not just symbolic
The Pope’s visit to Al Azhar University, that old citadel of learning, came at a historic time. And it couldn’t just be a coincidence that he talked of the need to combat the “barbarity” of religious extremism, especially in the youth. The University influences many thousands from across the world – just as it has for a thousand years. And President al Sisi, who violently overthrew the Islamic Brotherhood to come to power, now openly considers Al Azhar part of the problem rather than the solution; and has ordered urgent and thorough religious reforms.
It is hard to fight President al Sisi’s notion that extremist ideas have largely infiltrated Muslim societies. And institutions like Al Azhar, that influence a large number of minds, have clearly regressed since their heyday some centuries ago. The turnaround in the battle for the minds, therefore, must also come from just such outlets. There’s a valuable lesson here for Pakistan. We have talked about the so called national narrative against extremism to the point of including it in NAP, yet have still not done much about it. The government here, too, must finally put its foot down and initiate long overdue madrassa reforms.
