Al-Azhar announced, on Saturday, that it rejected the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron about Islam, stressing that they are "racist and fuel the feelings of two billion Muslims."
This came in a statement by the Islamic Research Academy in Al-Azhar, two days after the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, rejected statements by a French official who spoke about the term "Islamic terrorism."
The statement pointed out that Macron accused Islam of "false accusations that have nothing to do with the true religion of this religion," adding, "We strongly reject these statements and confirm that they are racist statements that would inflame the feelings of two billion Muslims."
The statement denounced the insistence of some to place false accusations with Islam or other religions, such as separatism and isolationism, stressing that this insistence "is a flawed mixing between the truth of what religions call for in calling for rapprochement between people and the architecture of the earth, and between the exploitation of some of the texts of these religions and employing them to achieve downward purposes."
And Saturday, the International Union of Muslim Scholars responded to Macron's statements, explaining that those convinced of Islam are increasing every day, "it is not in a crisis, but the crisis is in ignorance of its principles and facts and hatred for him and his ummah, it is a crisis of understanding and a crisis of morals."
The union said in a statement that the problem facing Islam lies in double standards and Islamophobia, "and in a handful of those who were made by occupiers and colonialists to rule Muslim countries."
The Federation affirmed that such unjustified attacks and permitting attacks on the sanctities of Islam under the guise of freedom "are what make terrorism and religious racism, and prevent peaceful coexistence based on respect for all religions and their privacy."
The statement commented on the conditions of Muslims in France, and asked about the fate of freedom there, "if secularism forces Muslims to sign and force the secular pact."
Macron said in his Friday speech that Islam is experiencing a crisis everywhere in the world today, and France must confront what he described as Islamic isolationism that seeks to establish a parallel system and deny the French Republic.
Macron's statement coincided with his readiness to introduce a bill against "emotional separation" with the aim of "combating those who employ religion to question the values of the Republic."
On Thursday, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar announced, in a statement, "his strong condemnation and anger at the insistence of some officials in Western countries to use the term Islamic terrorism, not paying attention to the consequences of this use of severe abuse of the Islamic religion and its believers."
According to press reports, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar's statements came days after statements by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan, confirming that his country is "in a war against Islamic terrorism," following an attack on an old headquarters of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.