by AYAH AMAN
Egyptian Sunni Muslim clerics attend a conference on extremism at al-Azhar in Cairo, Dec. 3, 2014. PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images
Egypt rejoined the African Union on June 17, 2014, and since that time, the administration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been trying to expand its regional role in Africa through a stronger foreign policy and hopes to use the soft power of religion to reassert Egypt’s cultural influence in African societies. The Foreign Ministry has called on al-Azhar, the thousand-year-old university and center of Sunni religious thought, for assistance.
A Foreign Ministry source specializing in African affairs told Al-Monitor, “There is a strategy to mainly rely on religious institutions, such as al-Azhar and the church, to spread culture and influence in small communities in African countries.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, “There are significant challenges to restoring al-Azhar’s power and reforming its foreign policy, especially in Africa, after al-Azhar missions that were sent to African countries many years ago failed to achieve their goal. In fact, they became a burden to Egyptian foreign policy … There are still lengthy consultations between the Foreign Ministry and al-Azhar to activate the role of al-Azhar’s missions in Africa for the benefit of Egyptian interests and to spread moderate Islam at a time when radical and terrorist thought controls several parts of the continent, threatening Egypt’s security.”
After the liberation of a number of African countries from colonial domination in the 1950s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser sent al-Azhar clerics on missions to African states to strengthen relations. In turn, al-Azhar received several student missions from African countries to study the institution’s version of moderate Islam. Egyptian Islamic centers were established in Somalia, Tanzania, Eritrea and Uganda.
According to statistics from al-Azhar, 65% of its foreign students are Africans who have come to study religion and jurisprudence. Also, 75% of al-Azhar’s envoys to the world remain on the African continent. Despite ambitious plans for al-Azhar to help spread its cultural influence among African societies for Egypt’s benefit, a number of challenges stand in the way of achieving this goal, namely, the institution’s inability to select suitable envoys.