AFRICA/EGYPT - The Grand Imam of al-Azhar: What will the heads of Churches in the US that accept gay marriage say to Jesus?

Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - The West is spreading homosexuality, and "unfortunately some Heads of Churches in the United States accept same-sex marriages. I wonder what is left of the Bible in those Churches. And what will they say in front of Jesus, peace be upon him". With these words, Egyptian sheikh Amhed al Tayyeb, grand imam of a Sunni Islamic university Al Azhar, wanted to externalize his thinking about the choices of some American Christian groups - like the Presbyterian Church USA - that have recently changed their internal statutes in order to recognize marriages between persons of the same sex.
The statements - refer Egyptian sources consulted by Agenzia Fides - were issued by the representative of the most prestigious Sunni theological academy in Indonesia, during a meeting with questions and answers that took place at the Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah, in South Tangerang. The great Imam al Tayeeb also added that gay groups involved in election campaigns and the homosexual question is used as the theme to achieve political consensus
The Grand Imam is in Indonesia for the first time - where he also met with President Joko Joko Widodo - to attend an international meeting organized by the Muslim Council of Elders, the organization, based in Abu Dhabi, created with the intent to promote greater tolerance between the different trends of Islam. In statements, relaunched by the Indonesian press, Sheikh al Tayyeb stressed that in this historical moment the biggest challenge within the Islamic world is the fact that "the differences between the doctrines are not tolerated, and become rather a pretext for violence". According to the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, "there is no harm in following a particular school or doctrine, but no one can claim to exclusively represent the true and authentic Islam". The war that destroyed Syria, Iraq and Yemen - added al Tayyeb - "was caused by the division between Shiites and Sunnis." (GV) (Agenzia Fides 24/02/2016)

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