Golden Genius Garden

Sheikh Tantawi has died suddenly of a suspected heart attack

Egypt's foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, has died, aged 81, while on a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Tantawi was the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar mosque and head of the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.

He died of a heart attack in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he was attending a prize-giving ceremony.

Sheikh Tantawi had infuriated radical Islamists with his moderate views on women wearing the veil.

His body will be taken to the Saudi city of Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad, for burial, Egyptian authorities said.

An adviser to the Sheikh told Egyptian television Sheikh Tantawi's death was a shock, as before leaving for Saudi Arabia he had seemed in "excellent shape and health".

A member of Sheikh Tantawi's office, Ashraf Hassan, told news agency Reuters that Mohamed Wasel, Sheikh Tantawi's deputy, was expected to temporarily take over leading the institution until the Egyptian president appointed a new head for the body.

Moderate views

Sheikh Tantawi was appointed to his position by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in 1996.

But as a government appointee, he was always forced to negotiate a careful path between his religious imperatives and his government position, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo says.

He was vocal in his opposition to female circumcision, which is common in Egypt, calling it "un-Islamic".

Last year, Sheikh Tantawi barred female students at the university from wearing the full-face covering niqab veil.

He also caused upset other Muslim scholars by saying that French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.

His views on the veil prompted Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to accuse him of "harming the interests of Islam".

He has also condemned suicide attacks, saying extremists had hijacked Islamic principles for their own ends.

"I do not subscribe to the idea of a clash among civilizations. People of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity," he told a conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 2003.

"Extremism is the enemy of Islam। Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and theThe head of one of the world's most prestigious centres of Islamic learning has upheld the right of France to ban headscarves in state schools.

The Grand Sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque in Egypt, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, was speaking after talks with French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

He said wearing the scarf was a duty for Muslim women - non-Muslim countries could pass any laws they wished.

France says it will ban all conspicuous religious symbols in schools.

President Jacques Chirac says the measure, announced two weeks ago, aims to underline France's secular tradition.

Cautious

Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi has to tread a fine line.

He is one of the highest religious authorities in Sunni Islam, but he is also a government employee.

He has to be seen as defending orthodox Islam without upsetting Egypt's relations with a friendly state. Hence the careful choice of words.

Some Muslim girls say that they wear the headscarf freely

But he added that that this obligation did not apply if the women lived in a non-Muslim country like France.

He said Muslim women had to obey the rules of the host country in which they live, under what he described as dire necessity.

The choice between evils

This appears to be a reference to a rule in Islamic law which stipulates that when forced to choose between two evils, a Muslim is allowed to choose the lesser one.

In other words, it is less harmful for a Muslim girl in France to refrain from wearing the veil at school than breaking French law.

Sheikh Tantawi's comments will probably go some way towards pleasing the French Government, which apparently wanted to enlist the support of a prestigious institution of Islam in their conflict with French Muslim girls.

But it is difficult to see how these girls will be swayed by the opinion of Sheikh Tantawi.

They do not see France as a host country. They see themselves as French citizens fully entitled to challenge the authority of the state in a modern democracy.

sky," Sheikh Tantawi said.

Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi of the Al-Azhar mosque of Cairo - which is seen as the highest authority in Sunni Islam - said groups which carried out suicide bombings were the enemies of Islam.

Speaking at the conference in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, Sheikh Tantawi said extremist Islamic groups had appropriated Islam and its notion of jihad, or holy struggle, for their own ends.

He called on Muslim nations to open themselves to dialogue with the West saying Islamic nations should "wholeheartedly open our arms to the people who want peace with us".

The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky Sheikh Tantawi Scholars debate future of Islam

Sheikh Tantawi was addressing a gathering of nearly 800 scholars and representatives from various non-governmental organisations.

"Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky," Sheikh Tantawi said.

Book ban

Sheikh Tantawi said Muslim suicide attacks, including those against Israelis, were wrong and could not be justified.

His comments echoed those by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed who said, at the opening of the conference on Thursday, that salvation could not be achieved through the killing of innocent people.

Worried that Islam's image is being damaged by terrorists who have hijacked the religion for their own ends, delegates also considered banning books which fuel extremism.

"We have to block them from channels that are meant to spread Islam," Sheik Husam Qaraqirah, head of an Islamic charity association in Lebanon, said.

"Their books must be banned and lifted off the shelves of mosques, schools, universities and libraries," he added.