The present Rector of the Azhar, Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut, was appointed by Presidential Decree dated Oct.21, 1958 [1], after serving as Acting Rector (Wakil) from November 1957.

According to the Azhar Journal [2], he (Shaikh M. Shaltut) was born in 1893 and studied at the Alexandria Religious Institute (an Azhar affiliate), where he taught from 1919 to 1928. After moving to Cairo he became professor of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) at the Azhar, but was dismissed in 1931 on account of his support in books and articles for the reforming efforts of Shaikh Mustafa al-Maraghi (Rector 1928-29 and 1934-45, and a disciple of Shaikh Muhammad 'Abduh). He took up law and journalism, and in 1935 became Deputy Director of the Shari'ah College affiliated to the Azhar. In 1950 he was made Head of the Azhar's Islamic Culture and Research Department. He spoke on Islamic law at an international conference on comparative law at the Hague in 1937, and has held various governmental assignments, as Inspector of Religious Institutions and in the broadcasting and foreign cultural relations fields. His numerous publications deal with fiqh, shari'ah, "the Quranic Program and the Social Structure," war, women, birth control, international relations in Islam, and comparison and rapprochement between the sects (madhhabs).

Since assuming office, the new Rector has taken three remarkable steps.

(i) Introduction of the study of six foreign languages: English, German, French, Indonesian, Urdu and Swahili, with one of the first three languages as a compulsory subject for students in all departments.[3] (Persian was already studied at the Azhar).

(ii) A widely reported statement [4] to a woman representative of the "National Union" describing men who repudiate or divorce their wives without serious cause as guilty of abominable immorality (fisq) and accordingly worthy of the Qur'anic penalties for fisq.

(iii) A decision to introduce into the Azhar's curricula the study of Zaidite and Twelver Shi'ah (Ja'farite or Imamite) fiqh on a par with the fiqh of the four Sunni schools (madhhabs). This last step is one which the new Rector had long ago advocated in his earlier writings; according to the Azhar Journal, [5] he and Shaikh Mustafa al-Maraghi frequently adopted the Shi'ah view rather than any of the Sunni views on disputed points of fiqh. A Sunni-Shi'ah Rapprochement Society (Jama'at al-Taqrib) was founded as long ago as 1948, on the initiative, it is said, of an Iranian Shi'ah named Shaikh Muhammad Taqi Qumi; and this society, under the leadership of an Iranian named Shaikh Kazim, continued to enjoy the Azhar's sponsorship.

Particulars of the decision were given by the Rector in a press interview reported in the August 1959 issue of the Azhar Journal: [6] "We have introduced into the Shari'ah College a new program based on the comparative study of fiqh among the different Islamic madhhabs, as follows:

1. The different madhhabs will be studied with no distinction between Sunnah and Shi'ah. Particular attention will be paid to clear exposition of the theological arguments in support of the four Sunni madhhabs and of the Twelver Imamite and Zaidite madhhabs respectively.

2. The arguments will be analysed without regard to the adherence or non-adherence of the professor or student to a particular school. By this means it will be possible to realize the benefits of comparative study, namely that the predominant opinion be ascertained when there are many opinions, and that blameworthy fanaticism be eliminated.

3. As regards sources of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), particular attention will be paid to matters on which there are differ-ences of opinion between the above-mentioned schools, and the reasons for the differences will be clearly expounded.

4. As regards the materials and authorities of Sound Tradition ('ilm mustalah al-hadith wa rijalihi), the course of study will include materials, authorities and Companions of the Prophet recognized by the Imamites and Zaydites as well as by the Sunni's.

In the higher course at the Shari'ah College these subjects will be studied in greater detail. The Rector also said:

1. There is no validity in the statement made in some books to the effect that the madhhabs which may be legitimately followed are limited to four, nor in the statement that the follower (muqallid) of one madhhab may not shift to another.

2. The word Shi'ah by which the followers (atba') of 'Ali and his family are generally known has been applied to many sects which oppose Islam in many of their fundamental beliefs and precepts, and these may not be followed (taqlid) on account of their secession from the circle of Islam.

3. There are other groups attached (muntasib) to 'Ali, namely the rightly-guided Shi'ah, who are innocent of any connection with these misguided groups and who judge the latter to be unbelievers and curse them; among these sound Shi'ah is the sect (ta'ifah) known as the Ja'fari or Twelver Imamite.

4. This commendable (ma'ruf) group has its principles based (mustanad) on the Book of God and on the Sunnah of His Prophet as related by their Imams. In their creed ('aqidah) and law (shari'ah) there is no greater difference between them and the Sunni madhhabs than there is between the Sunni madhhabs them-selves.

5. Their school of law (madhhab fiqhi) is documented (mudannan wa muharrar) and possesses books, evidences (asnad) and proofs (adillah). Those who undertook the compilation of these books and those who derived help from them are favorably known, for the memory of their services to knowledge and of their standing as theologians has been preserved among the 'ulama'.

From this it follows clearly that:

Firstly, Islam does not oblige any of its followers to follow a particular madhhab but grants to every Muslim the right to adhere initially to any madhhab which has been correctly transmitted and whose precepts are documented in specific books, and that the adherent of any of these madhhabs may shift to another one without there being any objection to his so doing; and

Secondly, that the madhhab known as the Twelver Shi'ah Imamite is one in which worship (ta'abbud) may be legally performed on a par with the madhhabs of Sunnis." "Muslims should know this and refrain from fanaticism in favour of a particular madhhab. God's religion and law do not belong and are not confined to any one rnadhhab. They are all earnest seekers for truth (mujtahidun), rewarded and accepted by God. It is permissible that anyone not qualified to have insight or to search for truth (ijtihad) should follow one of them (taqlid) and carry out the prescriptions of its fiqh alike in worship and in conduct ('ibadat wa mu'amalat)."

In an article in the August 1959 issue,[7] Professor Muhammad al-Sharqawi observes that the Azhar has hitherto ignored the Zaidite, the Imamite and the defunct Awza'ite schools and has virtually ignored the Wahhabi school; but he thinks that the Azhar might find in these schools "some acceptable opinions which would help to give shar'i solutions to the endless problems encountered by people in modern life." "As regards the deviating madhhabs," he continues, "my view is that the Azhar could only benefit from studying the reasons for their deviation and through warding off the evil of them." Among the deviators, he mentions the Babis and Bahais and presumably includes (though he does not mention) the surviving sects of Batini Shi'ah, such as the Nizarite and Musta'lite Isma'ilis (Khojas and Bohras), and the Druzes, Nusayris ('Alawites) and Ahl-e Haqq.

More than two hundred years ago an attempt to incorporate the Ja'fari Shi'ah into Sunni Islam as a fifth madhhab was made by Nadir Shah of Iran (1736-47) [13]. With the help of an army containing many Sunni Afghans and Turkomans, this great general restored the Iranian empire and temporarily added to it extensive territories inhabited by Sunnis. He also knew that the Ghilzai Afghan revolt which had overthrown the Safavid empire was provoked by Shi'ah persecution of the Sunnis. He was able to force the 'ulama of Najaf to endorse his plan, but in his peace treaty of 1746 with Turkey he failed to gain Ottoman recognition of the fifth or Ja'fari madhhab. His motives were solely political, and after his death the 'ulama and the Iranian people reaffirmed their allegiance to the Shi'ah. Since then much time has passed. (Iranians no less than Egyptians were influenced by the ideas of Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi, known as "Afghani," who was probably by origin an Iranian and a Shi'ah. Sayyid Jamal al-Din's "pan-Islamism" meant co-operation, above all against Western dominance, between the Sunni Ottoman and Shi'ah Iranian empires, both of which he hoped to see strengthened and modernized. In 1906 Iran entered her modern age with the winning of the Constitution. One clause in this declares Islam of the Ja'fari Twelver madhhab to be the state religion, and another declares that the Constitution shall remain in force until the re-emergence of the Imam of the Age. Nationalism, however, has replaced sectarianism as the keynote of modern Iran. There is a renewed pride in the Achaemenid and Sasanid achievements, but above all Iranians glory in their classical literature; and they are aware that most of their favorite authors such as Nizami and Sa'di, though pious Muslims and Sufis, were not Shi'ahs. In Iran the old anti-Sunni fanaticism has virtually disappeared.

Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut has expressed the view that sectarian conflicts are a sociological phenomenon. [14] In respect of Iraq, he is certainly right. Until recent years, the Shi'ahs, who form half of Iraq's population, were educationally, economically and politically weaker than the Sunnis. Ottoman policy had excluded them from the army, civil service and political life, and after 1918 the opposition of the 'ulama of Karbala and Najaf to any form of 20th century government resulted in Sunni predominance during much of the Hashimite period. Subsequently the Shi'ahs began to catch up. They won success and distinction in economic life, in the civil service and in literature, and between 1947 and 1958 provided four of Iraq's prime ministers. But the old communal tension, though diminished, has not disappeared. Parents, for instance, whether Shi'ah or Sunni, usually oppose mixed marriages by their children. This absurd communal tension is repulsive to the younger educated Iraqis and is probably one reason why many of them are inclined to religious scepticism and why some of them are inclined, to communism. Similarly in the Lebanon, the Twelver Shi'ah community, though possessing some distinguished individuals and families, is as a whole far behind the Sunni, Druze and various Christian communities in economic and educational status. In both Iraq and the Lebanon, a Sunni-Shi'ah rapprochement might do a lot of social good.

Concern for social aspects, and an appreciation of the value of comparative jurisprudence in the study of law, may perhaps explain why Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut's pronouncements refer solely to Shi'ah fiqh and shari'ah. But the disagreements between Sunni and Shi'ah on legal questions - such as the proper form of foot ablution, or whether adultery should be punished by stoning or the lash - are of little interest today. Even the disagreement on mut'ah (temporary marriage), which the Shi'ah allows, is relatively unimportant when divorce is unrestricted. Egyptian opinion, including Azharite opinion led by Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut, is now moving in favor of restricting divorce. Iranian opinion seems to be moving in the same direction, and the legal reforms foreshadowed by the Shah in his important speech of Aug.20, 1959 [15] may perhaps venture into this field. From the point of view of the 'ulama, such reform will necessitate revision of the traditional interpretations of the Qur'anic precepts, and ijtihad will be the instrument of such revision. Ijtihad (initiative in the search for truth) has always formed an essential element in the Shi'ah usul al-fiqh; in theory it is the function of the Imam and during his absence the 'ulama' (mujtahids) try to act for him, though in practice it cannot be said that they have done very much in this direction. Traditionally, the four Sunni schools regarded the "gate of ijtihad" as having been closed, but the reformists of the school of Muhammad 'Abduh and of the school now prevalent in the Azhar insist that it be reopened. Concerning Ijtihad there is thus no longer any difference between Shi'ahs and Sunnis.

The Iranian Shi'ah thinker, Riza' Quli Sangalaji known as "Shari'at" (d. 1943), is said to have arrived independently at conclusions similar to those of Muhammad 'Abduh, namely that Ijtihad must be revived and conservatism (taqlid) eliminated, and that Islam calls for the pursuit of science and social justice. At the same time Sangalaji upheld the distinctive beliefs of the Twelver Shi'ah. These are generally considered to be as follows: [17]

(i) that God is just and that men have free will,

(ii) that God accordingly provides in every age an infallible Imam to guide and intercede for men, if they choose to give him allegiance,

(iii) that the first eleven Imams of the Islamic period were martyred by wicked men, and

(iv) that the Imam of the present age disappeared but does and will re-emerge.

The first of these beliefs is shared with the Mu'tazilite school, which was rehabilitated in modern Indian Sunni thought by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898) [18] and in modern Arab Sunni thought by Ahmad Amin (d. 1954). [19] The fourth belief is paralleled by the popular Sunni beliefs in the eventual coming of a Mahdi.

Sayyid Muhammad Husain Kashif al-Ghita' of Najaf (d. 1954), in his book on the "Origins and principles of Shi'ism," [20] uses scholastic reasoning and a medieval terminology and style in support of these beliefs. Thus in refutation of sceptics who doubt the concealment and eventual return of the Imam of the age, he says that Muslims similarly believe Jesus and Idris to be still living in heaven and Ilyas and Khidr to be still living on earth, that there are attested cases today of persons living to abnormal ages of 120 or more, and that anyhow the matter is one of those inexplicable things like kissing the black stone of the Ka'bah during the pilgrimage.[21] Much of the book is given to legal matters which have become irrelevant in modern conditions. The author is also at pains to demonstrate (mainly from sources in the Sunni Traditions) that the origins of the Shi'ah go back to the Prophet and his Companions. He states that what moved him to write was his awareness of the ignorance and prejudice in regard to the Shi'ah prevalent among Sunnis, both in Iraq and Egypt. An Iraqi Shi'ah student in Cairo had told him that Egyptians regarded the Shi'ah either as a heretical sect of Persian innovators, not really Muslim at all, or else as an anti-Umayyad and anti-'Abbasid political party with no religious significance. Above all, Egyptian professors like Ahmad Amin in his Fajr al-Islam had described the Shi'ah as "a refuge for all those who wished to destroy Islam out of hostility or envy, or who wished to introduce into it the doctrines of their Jewish or Christian or Zoroastrian ancestors".[22] Such ignorant prejudice, the author declares, is "a source of joy and a major weapon for the imperialists and for the atheists of our time (rnalahidat al-'asr)."[23]. He urges all Arabs and Muslims to achieve mutual understanding through knowledge, and to unite their ranks against the "imperialist vipers" and the "hidden enemies."[24]

It is certainly remarkable that Ahmad Amin's attitude to Shi'ism should have been so extraordinarily hostile, especially when in other respects he is by far the most broad-minded thinker, as well as the best writer, among recent Egyptian exponents of Islam. The chapter on the Shi'ah in his Duha al-Islam follows his scholarly and laudatory account of the Mu'tazilah. He expounds the distinctive Shi'ah beliefs in words quoted direct from the Kafi of Kulayni (d. 941), the earliest Twelver Shi'ah compendium of theology and Traditions, and refutes them in modern language with essentially rationalistic arguments, concluding that the Shi'ah doctrine of the Imamate is "a disruption of the system of Islam and a destruction of its most important principles" which "deserves only to be recorded in (bygone) history."[25] Ahmad Amin does not even perceive, and Sayyid Kashif al-Ghita' does not adequately express, what would seem to be the vital force in Shi'ism namely its emotional quality.

It is impossible to know how much importance educated young Iranians or Iraqis today really attach to the distinctive beliefs of Shi'ism. But it is certain that the martyrdoms of the saints and especially of the Imam Husain continue to stir intense emotion. Even university-educated sceptics will go to the rawzah-khvani during Muharram and come back deeply moved. The Sunni modernists stemming from the school of Muhammad 'Abduh seem to lack a comparable emotional vitality. Having rejected Sufism because of the discredit brought upon it by the corrupt darvish orders and also because of its anti-rational aspect, they sometimes give the impression of having little left except a social reformism which is bound to lag behind the demands of purely rational thought and of lay opinion, and a nationalism which is bound to have limits and to come up against other nationalisms. Perhaps the Shi'ah emotionalism carries with it a more humanistic message. It will be interesting to observe the effects if this message now begins to penetrate the Azhar or to penetrate it again. For at the start of its almost millennial career, Al-Azhar was a Shi'ah (Isma'ili) institution.

Notes :

[1] Text in Majallat al-Azhar, Oct. 1958, supp. (p. I). In this article 'Shi'ah' is used as both noun and adjective

[2] Biography in Ibid. (p.4-6).

[3] Text of decision in M.A., Sept.1958, supp. See also M. A., Aug. 1959, p.351.

[4] Daily Telegraph, London, Oct. 26, 1959.

[5] M.A., Sept.1959, p.383.

[6] M.A., Aug. 1959, p. 239-241.

[7] M.A., Aug.1959, p.143-144.

[8] M.A., Feb.1959, supp. (p.22-24).

[9] Ibid. (p. 18).

[10] M.A., Aug. 1959, p.145.

[11] Text in M.A., Sept.1959, p.359.

[12] M.A., July, 1958, p. 107-109.

[13] Laurence Lockhart, Nadir Shah, London 1938, pp. 4-5, 99-102, 232-234, 279-281.

[14] MA., Sept.1959, p.382.

[15] Ittila'at, Tehran, Murdad 20, 1338/Aug. 20, 1959. Quoted in Oriente Moderno, XXXIX, 8-9, Aug.-Sept., 1959, p.632.

[16] In a thesis presented to McGill University, Montreal, in 1954, Amir 'Abbas Haydari (now an assistant at London University) has studied Sangalaji's life and writings. These include Kilid-e Fahm-e Qur'an, Islam va Raj'at, Mahv al-Mawhum, Tawhid-e 'Ibadat. They have not been accessible to the present writer.

[17] Dwight M. Donaldson, The Shi'ite Religion, London 1933, p.305-356. M. H. Kashif al-Ghita' (v. infra, 20), p. 107-115.

[18] Baljon, J. M. S., The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Leiden, 1949.

[19] Ahmad Amin, Duha' al-Islam, part III, Cairo, 1936, pp.21-207. Some of Muhammad 'Abduh's views approached certain Mu'tazilite positions, but 'Abduh never had access to any Mu'tazilite documents (which had not then been unearthed), and never spoke or wrote in favor of the Mu'tazilah. The first to do so was Ahmad Amin. R. Caspar, Le Renouveau du Mu'tazilisme, in Melanges de L'Institut Dominicain d'Etudes Orientalis, 4, Cairo, 1957, pp.141-202.

[20] M. H. Kashif al-Ghita', Asl al-Shi'ah wa Usuluha, 9th. ed., Beirut, no date (first published 1944).

[21] Op. cit. p. 111-113.

[22] Op. cit. p.64, quoting Ahmad Amin, Fajr al-Islam, 5th. ed., Cairo 1945, p.33.

[23] Op. cit. p.62-66.

[24] Op. cit p.45-57 (Essay written in 1945 on Kayf yattahid al-Muslimun as preface to 2nd ed.). See also Ahmad Amin, Hayati, Cairo, 1954, pp. 251-4.

[25] Ahmad Amin, Duha' al-Islam, Part III, Cairo, 1936, p.222 and 226.