Mohamed El Sayed

After the fall of the "Black Stone", which is the symbolic name of the strong sultan of Egypt, Kafur Al-Ikhshidi (d. 357 AH / 968 AD), according to what was stated in a letter sent by one of the secret Fatimid preachers in Egypt to their successor, Al-Mu'izz Li Din Allah (d. 365 AH / 976 AD) in Tunisia;

The guarded Egypt was on a date with the most serious change that touched it in its history, which was the introduction of the Fatimids and the construction of the Al-Azhar Mosque, and the sitting of the Judge of Judges, Abi Al-Hassan Ali bin Al-Nu’man Al-Qayrawani (d. 374 AH / 985 AD) to teach the books of the Ismaili Shiite sect in its corridors.

And between the moment of Al-Nu’man Al-Qayrawani and the moment of the current Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb;

More than a thousand years have passed during which Al-Azhar remained in the status of "witness and witness".

Al-Azhar was born with Cairo, and saw the light through the gate of politics, and the relationship with the authority in its general character was characterized by tension and estrangement, in contrast to its relationship with its society, which remained a clear tongue about the condition of the poor and a generous endowment for the rich.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar was the sheikh of sects, crafts and sects, and their tongue was on the journey to ascend to the “Castle” the seat of government to raise people’s complaints about grievances, and his students were the habitat of revolutions, anxiety and movement, and his scholars were the ones who threw the flag of the French state in the face of its strong invading ruler Napoleon Bonaparte (d. / 1821 AD), and they are the group that called for the ouster of Khedive Tawfiq (died AH / 1892 AD), and the turbans that flooded Tahrir Square and brought down Hosni Mubarak (AD / 2020 AD), and from them came Ahmed al-Tayeb, who is still perplexing the head of the current authority.

Just as Al-Azhar was a beacon and a platform for Shiism when it was established during the Fatimid era;

It was - and still is - a beacon and a stronghold of the Sunnah since the demise of the Fatimid state until today.

In this article;

We will seek to highlight part of the history of Al-Azhar and its sheikhdom, its relationship to politics and politicians, tyrants and invaders, and the reasons for attempts to undermine its independence and its place in the cumulative memory of the public and the collective mind of the nation.

The emergence of


the Fatimids The Al-Azhar Mosque is one of the oldest religious institutions in the Islamic world. It was founded by the Fatimids and prayers were opened in Ramadan in the year 361 AH / 972 AD.

The main objective of establishing the Al-Azhar Mosque was to be an official pulpit of the Fatimid state, and to cement the link with the official pulpits that represented the Sunni sect in the pre-Fatimid period, such as the Mosque of Amr and others.

Therefore, the official call to prayer in Al-Azhar began as a Shiite, and Shiite supplications began to be repeated in Al-Azhar every prayer.

Egypt did not know during the era of the Fatimids - who are from the Ismaili Shiites - the construction of scientific schools that were founded later, so Al-Azhar was the mosque and the school at the same time.

In this regard, Al-Jalal Al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 AD) says in his book 'Hassan Al-Mahazar': "When Sultan Salah al-Din bin Ayyub owned the Egyptian lands, there were no schools in it, for the Ubaid state was the madhhab of the Rafidah and the Shiites, so they did not say these things." .

The first episode in the Al-Azhar Mosque was during the era of Al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah, specifically in the year 365 AH / 976 AD, when the Judge of the Judges, Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Al-Nu’man al-Qayrawani (d. 374 AH / 985 AD) sat in the Al-Azhar Mosque, and read a summary of the jurisprudence of Ahl al-Bayt.

Then the circles of Banu al-Nu’man continued in al-Azhar, as they were among the scholars of Morocco close to the Fatimid Caliphate, and they came to Egypt as a supporter and aid to the Fatimids, and under it they held the leadership of the judiciary for nearly half a century;

As Muhammad Abdullah Annan (d. AH / 1986 AD) says in 'The History of Al-Azhar Mosque'.

Among those who sat in Al-Azhar for education was Minister Yaqoub Ibn Kilis (d. 380 AH / 991 AD), who began in the year 369 AH / 980 AD, explaining the "Waziriyah Message", a treatise on Ismaili Shiite jurisprudence.

Regular study at Al-Azhar began in the Fatimid era at the hands of Ibn Kilis, who tells Al-Maqrizi - in “The Sermons and Al-Iti`bar” - that he appointed a group of jurists to read in Al-Azhar, and gave them fixed salaries and provisions from his money.

As for the sources of livelihood and sources of funding, the Fatimid caliphs were the ones who paid fixed salaries to the scholars of Al-Azhar, and took care of its construction and renovation.

Including the text of the famous Hakim endowment that he endowed on the House of Wisdom, the Al-Azhar Mosque, and a number of mosques. Al-Maqrizi gave us its text, recording everything from expenses and specifying each item with its own budget, even incense, lamps and sewing fees.

These rituals were important for the mosque to remain a doctrinal actor, and an expression of the identity of the Fatimid state.

But at the same time, Sunni schools existed in opposition to the Fatimid Al-Azhar and competed with it in the struggle over followers. In Fustat, the Amr Mosque was a castle for the Sunnis, and there were two Sunni schools in Alexandria. ) to teach the Maliki school of thought.

The second was established by the Sunni Fatimid Minister Al-Adil bin Al-Salar (d. 548 AH / 1153 AD) to teach the Shafi'i school of thought.

Among those who studied in it was Al-Hafiz Abu Taher Al-Salafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 AD), about whom Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD) says about him in “Sir Al-Alam Al-Nubala”: Gather for a world like her in the world."

Al-Dhahabi’s words implied that the Sunni scholarly activity did not stop in Alexandria during the Fatimid era, especially during their last era called “the era of ministers” due to their control over the Fatimid caliphs.

Ayyubid stagnation


When the Fatimid rule fell, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD) assumed the position of Judge of Judges to Sadr al-Din Ibn Derbas (d. 613 AH / 1216 AD), and apparently acted according to his doctrine, which is to abstain from holding two sermons in one country, forbidding the sermon from Al-Azhar and placing it in a mosque ruler "for being wider";

In the words of Al-Suyuti in 'Hassan Al-Muhazar'.

Friday remained suspended in Al-Azhar for nearly a hundred years, until Al-Zahir Baybars (d. 676 AH / 1277 AD) came and spoke about bringing it back to him. The Judge of the Judges, Ibn Bint al-Aziz (d. 665 AH / 1267 AD), dismissed him - for several reasons - and appointed a Hanafi judge, and authorized its return. ;

According to the narration of Suleiman bin Rasd al-Hanafi al-Zayati (d. 1311 AH / 1893 AD) in 'The Treasure of the Jewel in the History of Al-Azhar'.

Here is a pause regarding the disruption of prayer in Al-Azhar;

This is because the beholder of what is behind the issue realizes that the Ayyubid decision was closely related to the erasure of the Fatimid identity. Al-Azhar was his pulpit, a platform for political guidance at that time, and it was the first landmark of the Fatimid era, as it was located in the heart of Cairo in the area of ​​the Fatimid palaces, while the Al-Hakim Mosque was on the outskirts of Cairo. Salah al-Din invalidated Friday prayers in al-Azhar in parallel with strict measures to liquidate the Fatimid enclaves.

Al-Qalqashindi (d. 821 AH / 1418 AD) says in 'Subh al-Asha': "I know that when the Ayyubid state came to the Fatimid state and succeeded it in the Egyptian lands, it violated it in many of the kingdom's arrangements, and changed most of its features, and it took place as the Atabeg state was...".

Among these main features is the issue of Friday, and the Shiite lessons that were given every Friday in the era of the Fatimids!

And Salah al-Din, although he did not expressly declare his intentions towards disrupting Friday prayers in al-Azhar, but there are many evidences for that, including: that Friday in the Fatimid era was not performed in the al-Azhar mosque only, and in that al-Suyuti says: “The Caliph [Fatimi] was preaching in a mosque. Amr Gomaa, and in the Ibn Tulun Mosque a Friday, and in the Al-Azhar mosque Friday.”

The disruption of Friday prayer in Al-Azhar was not based on completely canceling its role as a university scientific school. Rather, with time, the lessons of science and its circle were held in it, even if it lost its position and importance as a center from which the state’s directions and directives are based and expresses its identity.

This time, it was like a large number of mosques and schools built by the Ayyubids, which entered into a competition to teach the four schools of jurisprudence, modern orthography councils, and so on.

The Ayyubids paid much attention to building scientific schools in the context of defending the Sunni sect, and strengthening and consolidating its presence after the long period of the Fatimid rule.

Among those who studied in this era were the judge of judges and the historian Ibn Khallikan (d. 681 AH / 1282 AD), and the Sufi Sheikh Omar Ibn Al-Farid (d. 632 AH / 1235 AD) resided in it, and he held dhikr councils there.

When he came to Egypt in the year 589 AH / 1193 AD, the great historian and physician Abdul Latif al-Baghdadi (d. 629 AH / 1232 AD) sat on the teaching chair at Al-Azhar for a number of years, teaching the sciences of logic, speech and eloquence.

He also taught the famous Jewish physician Musa bin Maimon (d. 600 AH / 1203 AD), explaining astronomy, mathematics and medicine.

Mamluk prosperity


The lessons of Al-Azhar were not regular like other schools during the Ayyubid era, although the four schools of jurisprudence were taught in it, unlike other schools that depended on a particular school, and it was not unique in scientific fame as it was settled at the end of the Mamluk era and the era of the Ottomans.

The construction of many schools in the early Ayyubid era;

He made Al-Azhar in great competition with those schools whose gifts, fees and prisons were much more than Al-Azhar, which led scholars and jurists to prefer those schools.

Perhaps Al-Zahir Baybars realized the importance of Al-Azhar in terms of history and location, so he wanted to usurp that position to strengthen its legitimacy, and to teach the Sunni sect, origins and branches.

Al-Azhar entered into great competition with the scientific schools that increased in the Mamluk era, and the princes competed to build and construct them.

Two schools were built on its western gate: the Al-Taybariya Madrasah in 709 AH/1309AD, and the Al-Aqbghawi School in 740 AH/1339AD.

On its eastern side, the Jawhariyya School was built in 844 AH / 1440 AD.

These schools are at the core of the Al-Azhar mosque and are not separated from it, so whoever studies in them or studies is studying or studying at Al-Azhar.

It can be said that the Mamluk era is the golden age of Al-Azhar;

Al-Maqrizi informs us - in 'Al-Ma'awa'at wa-l-I'tibar' - that those who 'remain in residence in it' have reached these days (= the year 818 AH / 1415 AD) seven hundred and fifty men between Ajam and Ziyala (= affiliated with Zayl'a: a city that was north of what is known today as Somalia), and from The people of rural Egypt and Moroccans, and each sect has a hallway known for them, the mosque is still full of recitation, study and indoctrination of the Qur’an, and engaging in all kinds of sciences, jurisprudence, hadith, interpretation, grammar, preaching councils and dhikr rings.”

Among the notable scholars who taught at Al-Azhar during this prosperous era was the great scholar and historian Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (d. 808 AH / AD) when he came to Cairo in the year 784 AH / 1382 AD, and he expressed this by saying: They did not give me an excuse, so I sat down to teach at Al-Azhar Mosque there.”

His student Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH / 1448 AD) was one of those who taught and preached at Al-Azhar, and Al-Suyuti says about Ibn Hajar’s sermon in Al-Azhar: “In this year (= 819 AH / 1416 AD) the king al-Mu’ayyad ordered the preachers, if they reached to pray to him in the sermon, to descend from the The pulpit is a step, so that the name of God and His Messenger is in a higher place than the place where the Sultan is mentioned, so Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did that in the Al-Azhar Mosque..; Ibn Hajar said: The Sultan’s intention in that was beautiful.

Ottoman vicissitudes


It can be said that the institutional aspect of Al-Azhar crystallized completely in the Ottoman era, and Al-Azhar was not alone in that, but that the Egyptian society seemed to take its organizational position at the literal, sectarian, union, and professional level, and the center of the leaders of these sects and their sheikhs was near Al-Azhar because it was the center of Cairo’s focus In that period.

In the same period, the political, social and religious leadership of Al-Azhar scholars began to crystallize, and this culminated in the emergence of the position of “Sheikh of Al-Azhar”, which became one of the most important religious and political symbols in Egypt, and the mouthpiece of the Egyptians before the authority, to the extent that it became a balancing body for the “Sheikh of Islam” institution in Ottoman Empire.

This was noted by Ali Pasha Mubarak (d. 1311 AH / 1893 AD) and he said - in 'The New Endowment Plans for Cairo, Egypt' - summarizing the context and goal of the emergence of the Azhar sheikhdom: He controls his salaries and establishes his rituals, so he assigned each sect a sheikh and servants, and for everyone a general sheikh they refer to and the rulers of the state, and in fact he is the 'Sheikh of the jurists of the country' in his fullness to the status of the 'Sheikh of Islam' in the Ottoman House of the Kingdom.

Then, in this era, the sheikhdom of Al-Azhar appeared;

The first person who assumed it was Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Kharshi (or Al-Kharashi) Al-Maliki, and that was - according to the well-known opinion - in the late eleventh century (some of them identified it in the year 1090 AH / 1679 AD), and some researchers trace its origin to the middle of the tenth century.

In any case, Sheikh Al-Kharshi is the first Sheikh of the Al-Azhar Mosque known to us;

As Annan says in 'The History of Al-Azhar Mosque'.

Sheikh al-Kharshi’s assumption of the position of sheikhdom allowed the Malikis to take over the position of sheikh, so six of their sheikhs assumed the position of sheikh between the years (1083-1137 AH / 1672-1724 AD), although the Shafi’i school was the largest in the country at that time, but the assumption of the sheikhdom was not necessarily It depends on the doctrine, because the Maliki jurists themselves struggled at one time over the sheikhdom;

As Hossam Abdel Muti says in 'The Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mosque in the Ottoman Era'.

With the consolidation of the sheikhdom, the role of Al-Azhar inflated during the era of the Ottomans until its sheikhs became a striking social force, taking at the hands of the Sultan and the Mamluk princes, and giving victory to the common people when they complained about them.

The Ottomans loved Al-Azhar and were aware of its place and centrality in the Islamic world.

This was expressed by the Ottoman governor of Egypt, Ahmed Pasha, when he addressed the Sheikh of Al-Azhar upon his arrival in Cairo to take up his position in the year 1161 AH / 1748 AD: “It is heard in our Roman land that Egypt is the source of virtues and sciences.”

According to the narration of Al-Jabarti (d. 1240 AH / 1824 AD) in 'Ajeeb al-Athar'.

During their reign, the Mamluk schools began to decline, and the reputation of Al-Azhar increased, and its revenues and endowments increased, especially after the Ottoman sultans placed many endowments on it, especially during the period of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (d. 926 AH / 1520 AD), who endowed part of the tribute money on the sheikhs and neighbors, which contributed Attracting Al-Azhar to great scholars and students of knowledge inside and outside Egypt.

Therefore, the Ottoman traveler Evliya Chalabi (d. 1095 AH / 1684 AD) - in 'Siyahatnamah Egypt' - recorded when he visited Egypt in the year 1082 AH / 1671 AD that "there is not in Egypt (= Cairo) a collector of what Al-Azhar has from a group, as it is located in a verb (= Central) Egypt, it is crowded with people day and night, so you will not find a place in it for prostration, in which twelve thousand students gather day and night, and their voices ring like the voices of bees, which astonishes man, and they are engaged in scientific discussions.”

Al-Azhar and Napoleon


Since the French entered Egypt in 1212 AH / 1798 AD, serious thinking began on how to crush the scholars and destroy their standing among the people. Indeed, official reports were submitted to the leaders of the French campaign in this regard.

And in one of the reports - according to what Henry Lawrence says in “The Intellectual Origins of the French Campaign on Egypt” - recommendations regarding how to attract scholars in the beginning, until “the minds of the people are enlightened so that scholars will be revealed, and then they will have no position other than the position they deserve.”

Indeed, Napoleon Bonaparte says - in his memoirs, according to what Jamal al-Din al-Shayal (d. 1387 AH / 1967 AD) in 'The History of Translation in Egypt in the Era of the French Campaign' - that in order to decay "these people (= Egyptians) must be mediators who seek between us and them, We had to set up chiefs over them, or else they set up their own chiefs.

I preferred the scholars and jurists of Sharia because: First, they were likewise (i.e., chiefs by nature);

secondly, because they were the interpreters of the Qur’an, and it is known that the greatest obstacles arise from religious ideas;

And thirdly, because the scholars have a soft character, and because they are - without dispute - the most virtuous people of the country, they do not know how to ride a horse, and they are not open to any act of war, and I have benefited a lot from them, and taken from them a way of understanding with the people, and composed of them the 'Diwan' (= the Governing Council) )".

Therefore, when Napoleon Bonaparte entered Egypt, he courted the scholars of Al-Azhar to attract them to him, and granted them many privileges and financial exemptions. In the year 1213 AH / 1799 AD, he "blessed" the Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharqawi with the colors of the flag of the French Revolution, but he threw it in his hands with a disdain that angered the invading occupier.

In this regard, Al-Jabarti says: “Sari Askar (= commander of the armies) asked Bonaparte for his sheikhs, and when they settled with him, Bonaparte got up from the council and returned with his talons (= medals) colored in three colors, each talisman three widths: white, red and blue, so he put one of them on the shoulder of the sheikh. Al-Sharqawi threw him to the ground and excused himself, and his mood changed and they lodged in the country like rulers who were imprisoned and beaten, and they demanded harshly, his color became dark and his temperament became intense.”

In this context;

The French invaders were interested in religious holidays and birthdays, which the Egyptians were known to pay attention to, especially at that time.

In this regard, Al-Jabarti says: “Sari Askar asked about the noble Prophet’s birthday and why they did not do it as usual. Sheikh Al-Bakri apologized for disrupting matters and the situation stopped. He did not accept and said: It is necessary. On the day of his birth, they played [in] their fields, and beat their drums and bears.”

However, it is not possible to be certain of the success of Napoleon Bonaparte’s policy, as the sheikhs of Al-Azhar led the people’s revolution against the rule of the French in October 1798 AD (1212 AH), only three months after their occupation of Egypt.

French military intelligence men estimated that the Al-Azhar Mosque was the center of the revolution, and that it contained fifteen thousand revolutionaries stationed in and around it.

Al-Azhar scholars were able to mobilize the harfs, the common people, and the merchants, and they armed them with whatever weapons and sticks they could, and they killed a large number of French soldiers. The French military governor of the Cairo region was killed, and the revolutionaries attacked the house of the commander of the Engineers Corps, and a number of leaders of the military campaign were killed;

According to Annan.

Confronting the Khedive


When things were almost out of control from the hands of the French, Bonaparte ordered the bombing of the Al-Azhar Mosque with artillery, so it was bombarded with continuous and focused bombardment.

In al-Jabarti's words;

“The French struck with cannons and plants (= the plural of Banaba, which is the bomb) on houses and alleys, and they deliberately targeted the Al-Azhar Mosque in particular, and they dragged the cannons and cannons (= the bombs, which are the bombs) on it.”

The French were able to break the revolution, so they entered the Al-Azhar Mosque, walking and riding, tying their horses to its pillars and kissing it, and plundered everything that fell under their hands from the belongings of the neighbors and the sheikhs.

Al-Jabarti recounts atrocities in this regard committed by the French inside the mosque, especially the execution of five Al-Azhar scholars.

Although the French seized Al-Azhar and stationed in it, and established a permanent military force in it, some official documents - according to Annan - state that Napoleon issued an order on Tuesday, October 23, 1798 AD, to demolish the Al-Azhar Mosque, and to blow up some of its internal columns, if possible;

According to Annan.

Despite the brutal measures taken by the French towards the Egyptians and Al-Azhar scholars because of the first Cairo revolution, whose center was Al-Azhar;

The Egyptians revolted against them again - under the leadership of Al-Azhar - in March 1800 AD.

Sheikh Abu al-Anwar al-Sadat (d. 1228 AH / 1813 AD) did not forget his role in leading the first Al-Azhar revolution in 1212 AH / 1798 AD, and also his role in the second revolution, so he was arrested and tortured despite his old age!

Then the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sharqawi (d. 1227 AH / 1812 AD) and a number of other sheikhs were arrested.

However, this calamity befell Al-Azhar among its students and sheikhs, strengthened its legitimacy and standing among the masses.

And decades later;

The Azharites also led the revolution of Ahmed Orabi (d. 1298 AH / 1881 AD), which ended with the British occupation of Egypt after its failure.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar Muhammad Al-Anbabi Al-Shafi’i (d. 1313 AH / 1895 AD) and a number of scholars issued a fatwa that “Khedive [Tawfiq] is a broth of religion, the arrow goes from the shooter, for his betrayal of his religion and his country and his bias towards the army that is fighting for his country”;

As stated in the book 'The Council of Senior Scholars 1911-1961' by researcher Zawat Irfan al-Maghribi.

And Sheikh Hassan Al-Adawi Al-Maliki (d. 1303 AH / 1885 AD) issued a fatwa not to obey the Khedive, saying: "It is by the order of God and His Messenger that the Khedive's orders will not be obeyed, and that the time has come for a holy war to erupt."

After the defeat of the Urabi Revolution, Sheikh Muhammad Abdo was exiled, Sheikh Al-Inbaby was removed, and the privileges of all Azharites who participated in the revolution or sympathized with the Khedive were abolished.

In the revolution of the year 1337 AH / 1919 AD, the neighbors in Al-Azhar participated in the revolution at first, and went out in mass demonstrations, and joined the demonstrations of workers and union owners, then the official Al-Azhar joined them after fifteen days from the start of the spark of the revolution.

After asking for calm at first,

He revolted strongly after the British attacked Al-Azhar on December 11, 1919 AD (1337 AH), and the Council of Senior Scholars in Al-Azhar issued a statement condemning the English and calling for independence;

According to Malika Al-Zaghal in 'Guardians of Islam'.

Balance of prestige


The truth is that the status of Al-Azhar did not come from a vacuum. Rather, Al-Azhar turned into one of the main actors in the political life, and the religious and cultural scene in the Islamic world.

In this regard, it is understood that there are Azharic arcades inside the Al-Azhar Mosque, for the Indians, Moroccans, Iraqis, Shawams, and others, in addition to the corridors of Egyptian regions, such as the corridors of Al-Sharaqawah, Al-Sa’ida, and so on.

Al-Azhar, then, was not local, but was owned by the entire nation.

There was no objection to a non-Egyptian sheikh who is distinguished in science and doctrine assuming the presidency of the doctrine, or even the sheikh of Al-Azhar.

However, there are two main reasons for which the Azhar leadership reverts, namely: The first: that Al-Azhar was a refuge for the weak and the needy, and they sought refuge in it and protected its sheikhs against the arbitrariness of the princes and sultans.

The second: Al-Azhar’s position on the occupation and its role in leading the revolutions.

Perhaps this aspect also includes the independence that distinguished Al-Azhar men before their resources and their prestige were stolen.

An example of Al-Azhar’s protection of the weak and the people’s resort to it is what happened from the scholars of Al-Azhar when the Ottoman governor Khurshid Pasha (d. 1207 AH / 1822 AD) imposed huge taxes on the people of Cairo.

At that time, the people sought refuge with Al-Azhar scholars, and the public, children and merchants gathered at the Al-Azhar Mosque and garnered their booth, and shops were closed and livelihoods disrupted.

Al-Azhar scholars met and held a legal council and wrote a document of demands that they submitted to Khurshid Pasha, and its number reached twenty-one demands, the most important of which are: to prevent the stationing of the military in Cairo, and to prevent the imposition of any tax on its residents without the approval of Al-Azhar scholars;

As Annan tells it.

When Khorshid Pasha rejected the demands of Al-Azhar scholars, Al-Azhar scholars demanded his dismissal, and people gathered around Al-Azhar scholars, and went to the judge and then to the house of the commander of the Ottoman forces in Egypt at the time, Muhammad Ali Pasha (d. 1265 AH / 1849 AD) chanting for Khorshid to be removed.

And here is an important paradox that we should stop at a lot in order to stand on the opinion of the Azharites at that time about power and government.

Among the sayings of Khorshid when he refused to isolate him from scholars and people: “I am under the authority of the Sultan, so I am not isolated by the order of the peasants, and I do not come down from the castle except by the order of the Sultanate”;

According to al-Jabarti's narration.

But Al-Azhar scholars insisted on isolating Khurshid, and decided to install Muhammad Ali as temporary governor of Egypt, until the sultan’s decree confirming him or appointing another person.

According to al-Jabarti’s account;

Muhammad Ali said to them: “I am not fit for that, and I am not among the ministers, nor among the princes, nor from the chiefs of the state, so they all said: We have chosen you for that according to the opinion of everyone and everyone, and the lesson is the satisfaction of the people of the country!!”

We note here that scholars use terms that refer to the presence of the popular legitimacy concepts of power in their minds and formulating their positions, such as: “the opinion of all and all” and “the satisfaction of the people of the country”!!

Even the Ottoman judge was forced to use those terms;

Al-Jabarti says that when he sent Khorshid Pasha to the judge asking for support and the salaries of the soldiers, he said to him after he refused his request: “A day of its history about forty thousand people attended the court, and they demanded that you descend or fight you, we cannot prevent the rise of this public, and this is the last correspondence between us and you, and peace ".

Through these facts, we note that Al-Azhar scholars believe that the legitimacy of political authority can only be achieved with the consent of the masses;

We also see how they were a support and support for the demands of the public and the masses, even in the great matters on which the fate of the state itself is determined.

Targeted independence


Al-Jabarti gave us a stormy dialogue about the people’s right to dismiss the unjust ruler, which took place between the scholars of Al-Azhar and one of the leaders loyal to Khurshid Pasha, Omar Bey Al-Albani. Omar Bey said: “How do you isolate the one who has entrusted the Sultan over you? Those who believe, obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.

Sheikh Omar Makram said to him: "The rulers of the matter are the scholars, the bearers of Sharia and the just ruler, and this is an unjust man. It has been the custom since ancient times that the people of the country dismiss the rulers... Even the Caliph and the Sultan if he walks in them unjustly, they dismiss him and depose him."

As for the independence of the Al-Azhar school;

Al-Azhar disturbed the Mamluk princes and the Ottoman governors, and those who succeeded in ruling Egypt even Muhammad Ali and his descendants.

The men of Al-Azhar were defending the public and their demands, and that was for reasons notably their wealth and their sufficiency in endowments and their own resources.

Al-Azhar's revenues came from three sources: government revenues, Al-Azhar endowments revenues, and donations.

Most of the princes were afraid of approaching endowments in general, and the Azhar endowments in particular, because they are sacred and protected by Sharia.

History tells us that some princes tried to seize control of endowments and rob them, but the scholars stood by him.

When Sultan Barquq (d. 801 AH / 1398 AD) wanted to control the funds of the donors, Sheikh Al-Islam Siraj Al-Din Al-Balqini (d. 805 AH / 1402 AD) confronted him and said to him: “As for the endowments of mosques and schools and all that belongs to scholars and students, there is no way to them, and it is not permissible for anyone to denounce it, because they have In five more than that!"

And when Badr al-Din ibn Abi al-Baqa al-Subki (d. 803 AH / 1400 AD) said that “the Sultan has the whole earth to do on it what he wants”;

Siraj Al-Din Al-Balqini replied: “Indeed, the Sultan is like a single person. He does not own anything of the land except as someone else owns it.”

According to what Ibn Hajar relates in 'Anbaa' al-Ghamr'.

And when Muhammad Ali came as governor of Egypt with the support, support and pressure of Al-Azhar scholars, he realized the danger of the Al-Azhar group to him and the future of his government, if he left them on their strength and independence.

Hence, he tried to dominate Al-Azhar through two directions: the first: the nationalization of Al-Azhar’s endowments, and the second: direct intervention in appointing its sheikhs for fear that a strong and popular Al-Azhar sheikh would lose his authority that he reached with such powerful sheikhs.

As for the robbery of the Al-Azhar endowments;

Sheikh Muhammad Abdo (d. 1323 AH / 1905 AD) says - in his memoirs - that Muhammad Ali "taken what was for the mosques of sustenance... and took from the endowments of the Al-Azhar mosque [what] if he remained today, his yield would have been no less than half a million pounds per year, and decided for him Instead, it equals about four thousand pounds per year.”

Muhammad Ali’s purpose behind this behavior was that the financial resources of scholars would be through him in order to ensure their loyalty to him and his dominance over them, and because he saw that his legitimacy was no longer based on the authority of scholars and Al-Azhar, but rather on force and the military.

Blatant interference


. As for the other line, which is direct interference in the appointment of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar;

Not only did Muhammad Ali Pasha weaken the scholarly community, but he also wanted to turn Al-Azhar into a tool to strengthen its legitimacy.

It was known and established that the scholars of Al-Azhar choose their sheikh, and they chose Sheikh Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Abbasi al-Hanafi (d. 1315 AH / 1897 AD) to be the Sheikh of al-Azhar, but Muhammad Ali refused to ratify the choice of scholars, and chose Sheikh Muhammad al-Shanawani instead.

This was paralleled by his co-optation of some sheikhs in order to divide their ranks;

Muhammad Ali’s moment is a pivotal moment in the history of Al-Azhar;

It was during his reign that the great transformation took place in the status of the Al-Azhar scholar in society.

فقد غضّ المشايخ الذين تمّت استمالتهم الطرف عن الضرائب الباهظة التي فرضها محمد علي على الفلاحين والمصريين مقابل بعض الامتيازات الخاصة بهم. وقد رصد الجبرتي هذا التحول الخطير بقوله: "ولما انقضى هذا الأمر واطمأنّ الباشا واستقرّ خاطره وخلص له الإقليم المصري، وثغر الإسكندرية، فأول ما بدأ به أنه أبطل مسموح المشايخ والفقهاء معا في البلاد التي التزموا بها".

وهذا يذكرنا بما كان يحدث أحيانا في تاريخ المؤسسة الأزهرية من ضعف وانقسام يسهّل على السلطة إخضاعها. ومن أمثلة ذلك أنه عندما اختلف الأزهريون حول منصب شيخ الأزهر بعد وفاة الشيخ النشرتي سنة 1120هـ/1708م؛ وصل الخلاف لدرجة الاقتتال بالأسلحة النارية داخل الجامع الأزهر، بسبب إصرار الشيخ النفراوي (ت 1126هـ/1714م) على الجلوس على كرسي الشيخ النشرتي، قبل إتمام عملية التنصيب والاختيار رسمياً، فمات ما يقرب من خمسة عشر قتيلا من طلبة العلم في هذه الفتنة.

ونجد عند الجبرتي كثيرا من تلك الفتن المتعلقة بمحاولة الوصول إلى كرسي المشيخة، وما ذلك إلا لحظوظ النفس والمذهب لا للعلم والإصلاح، وإلا لما وصل الأمر للاقتتال وسقوط القتلى في صحن الأزهر.

وهذا يؤول بنا إلى سؤال الإصلاح؛ فبمجيء الشيخ محمد عبده وبروز صيته كعالمٍ من علماء الأزهر الكبار فطن إلى مشكلة الأزهر الحقيقية، فوجّه جهوده نحو المركز بعمله على استقلال المؤسسة الدينية، وحاول تخليق مسافات بينها وبين قصر الخديوي، لكن التقليديين من رجال الأزهر لم يسعفوه في مشروعه، ووقفوا بجانب القصر ضدّ طموحاته خوفا على نفوذهم وتحالفاتهم.

وقد صرّح تلميذه السيد محمد رشيد رضا (ت 1354هـ/1935م) -في ‘المنار والأزهر‘- بما سماه "إصلاح الأستاذ الإمام الشيخ محمد عبده قدّس روحه، من وجهة إعلائه لشأن الأزهر واستقلال أهله به، وكفّ يد كل من الحكومة والأمير عن الاستبداد فيه". ويقول عن أمنية عبده في إصلاح الأزهر: "كان الأساس الذي وضعه الإمام محمد عبده لإدارة الأزهر أن يكون علماؤه مستقلين فيه بنظام وقانون لا سلطان للحكومة ولا للأمير على العبث به".

صرامة تعليمية
لا يمكن ختم الحديث عن الأزهر دون تقديم لمحة عن نظامه التعليمي والمناهج التي كانت تُدرس فيه، والتي تبلورت تقريباً في العهد المملوكي ولا يزال معظمها يُدرّس حتى اليوم، من علوم صرف وبلاغة ونحوٍ وفقه وأصول. ولم تخل الدراسة أيضا من بعض العلوم العقلية حينئذ كالرياضيات ونحوها، لكن المشتغلين بها "نزرٌ من الطلبة"؛ حسب مصطفى بيرم التونسي (كان حيا سنة 1321هـ/1903م) في ‘تاريخ مدرسة الأزهر‘. ثم تضاءلت تلك العلوم العقلية من الأزهر حتى توارت كليا.

ويقول الجبرتي إن الوزير أحمد باشا كور الذي عُيّن واليا عثمانيا على مصر في سنة 1161هـ/1748م "كان من أرباب الفضائل، وله رغبة في العلوم الرياضية، فلما استقرّ بقلعة مصر قابل صدور العلماء، منهم الشيخ عبد الله الشبراوي شيخُ الأزهر، فتكلم معهم في الرياضيات فقالوا: لا نعرف هذه العلوم، فتعجب وسكت"!!

ثم أوضح الشبراوي للوالي أن "غالب أهل الأزهر لا يشتغلون بشيء من العلوم الرياضية إلا بقدر الحاجة الموصلة إلى علم الفرائض والمواريث كعلم الحساب"، وأن العلماء المعتنين بالعلوم الرياضية "موجودون في بيوتهم يُسعى إليهم".

وقد ذكر له من هؤلاء العلماء الشيخَ الأزهري حسن الجبرتي (ت 1188هـ/1774م) الذي يقول عنه ابنه المؤرخ عبد الرحمن الجبرتي إنه "كان فريدا في صناعة التراكيب والتقاطير واستخراج المياه والأدهان…، وحضر إليه طلاب من الإفرنج وقرؤوا عليه علم الهندسة وذلك سنة تسع وخمسين (= 1159هـ/ 1746م) وأهدوا له من صنائعهم وآلاتهم أشياء نفيسة، وذهبوا إلى بلادهم ونشروا بها ذلك العلم من ذلك الوقت، وأخرجوه من القوة إلى الفعل، واستخرجوا به الصنائع البديعة مثل طواحين الهواء وجر الاثقال واستنباط المياه وغير ذلك". ويقول علي مبارك فيما يرويه عنه بيرم التونسي: "وينهَى أهلُ الأزهر من يقرأ كتب الفلسفة ويشنّون عليه الغارة، وربما نسبوه للكفر".

لكن لم يمنع هجران تلك العلوم –وخاصة الطبيعية منها- أن يبرز بعض الأزهريين في شيء منها في فترات مختلفة؛ فشيخ الأزهر أحمد الدمنهوري (ت 1164هـ/1778م) نبغ في العلوم الشرعية والعقلية والطبية، حتى وصفه بعض الأزهريين بأنّه اهتمّ بالعلوم الغريبة: "وكانت له حافظةٌ ومعرفةٌ في فنونٍ غريبة"؛ حسب الزياتي في ‘كنز الجوهر‘. ومن مؤلفاته في العلوم الحديثة: "عين الحياة في استنباط المياه" و"القول الصريح في علم التشريح". وهابته الأمراء لوفور علمه ورجاحة عقله، ولكونه أمّاراً بالمعروف نهّاءً عن المنكر.

وكذلك الشيخ حسن العطار (ت 1250هـ/1834م) الذي أزعجه إهمال الأزهريين للعلوم العقلية والعلوم الحديثة، فقال في حاشيته على ‘شرح جمع الجوامع‘: "إنّ مسألة الخلاء ومسألة إثبات الميل في الأجسام من مسائل العلم الطبيعي، وبتحقيقهما يظهر للفطن أسرار غريبة، وعليها ينبني كثير من مسائل جر الأثقال وعلم الحيل، واختراع الآلات العجيبة، وقد عُرّبت كتب في زماننا من كتب الفرنجة وفيها أعمال كثيرة وأفعال دقيقة اطلعنا على بعضها، وفي تلك الكتب تكلم القوم في الصناعات الحربية والآلات النارية، ومهدوا فيها قواعد وأصولاً.."، حتى قال: "وهذه نفثة مصدور، ولله عاقبة الأمور، لعمري لقد تساوى الفطن والأبله…، وسُدّ طريق النظر على الناظر البحّاث؛ ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله".

أما عن طريقة تصدّر الشيخ الأزهري علميا؛ فإنه كان يجلس أمام العمود في الجامع الأزهر والطلبة حوله، فإذا كثروا جلس على كرسيّ، وكلما كبرت حلقة الشيخ كلما ذاع صيته، واقترب حظه من التصدر في مشيخة المذهب أو الأزهر.

وقد كان نظام التعليم قبل الشيخ المهدي العباسي في الأزهر بدون امتحانات، حتى سنّ الشيخ العباسي الامتحانات للأساتذة والطلاب. فتمّ تعيين ستة من أكابر العلماء من كل مذهب، وجُعل الامتحان في أحد عشر علماً من العلوم المعروفة في الأزهر وقتئذ: الحديث والتفسير والأصول والمنطق، والتوحيد والفقه والنحو الصرف، والمعاني والبيان والبديع.

وإذا أراد أحدٌ التصدر للتدريس في الأزهر فعليه أن يحضر هذه الفنون لكبار العلماء، ويقدّم عريضة لشيخ الجامع يطلب فيها أنه يريد الدخول في حومة العلماء المدرسين، فيُمتحن امتحانا شديداً عسيراً يسمى "امتحان العالمية"، حتى إذا اجتازه قُبل وتصدّر.

One of the oddities of this exam is that Sheikh Muhammad Abduh was tested during the era of the Abbasid Mahdi in the year 1294 AH / 1877 AD, and in the words of one of the scholars, the examination of Muhammad Abduh was not an exam but a debate, until some of the sheikhs swore to divorce not to pass it so that he would not take the degree of teaching, but the Abbasid Sheikh gave him the degree The first, so one of the sheikhs got up and gave him the second degree and stamped and took from the Sheikhs of the Committee the seals, so the Abbasid Sheikh unwillingly agreed to that!!