Former Egyptian Minister Of Culture: Without Reform Of The Religious Discourse, We Will Have ISIS In Every Neighborhood - MEMRI

by MEMRI

In a recent TV interview, Gaber Asfour, the former Egyptian minister of culture, talked about the need for reform in religious thought and discourse. "Unless the religious discourse is renewed and undergoes reform, have no doubt that you will have people like ISIS in every neighborhood," he said in the interview, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on June 23, 2015.

Following are excerpts:

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

Gaber Asfour: "With regard to the reform of the religious discourse, I believe that we were in need of a president like Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi, who would take this task upon himself, because this issue is, in a nutshell, a matter of national security." 

Interviewer: "National security? In what way?"

Gaber Asfour: "Yes. I will tell you in what way. Unless the religious discourse is renewed and undergoes reform, have no doubt that you will have people like ISIS in every neighborhood. This is a matter of national security. It threatens the country. Take a close look at the Arab countries. Take your immediate neighbor, Libya. What happened to it? What happened to Sudan? To Syria? To Iraq? Everything that has happened is the outcome of deviation in religious thought. This deviation begins with the brain, which gives orders to the hand, which, in turn, perpetrates murder and terrorism, beginning with swords and ending with bombs. 

[...] 

"Al-Azhar has less sway over the so-called religious discourse than all the religious institutions." 

Interviewer: "But it is Al-Azhar from which supposedly the moderate preachers graduate."

MEMRI

Source: http://memri.convio.net/site/R?i=uRExpcJ0MAhLShi6E37Geg

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