Al-Azhar Grand Imam Chikh Ahmed Eltaieb and Salafist chikh Yasser El Borhami
Salafist cleric Yasser El-Borhamy called on all Egyptian political forces not to raise arms against each other, as concerns build about a possible violent dispersal of ongoing protests by security forces.
Egypt's interior ministry warned loyalists of ousted president Mohamed Morsi on Thursday to quit their ongoing Cairo sit-ins, pledging to give them a safe exit if they did not resort to violence. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has insisted that the protests will continue, and have rejected allegations that protesters are armed.
In an appeal published in the Salafist Call’s newspaper El-Fatah on Friday, El-Borhamy said that “sacrificing Muslim youth cannot be in the best interest of the nation," adding that the state is responsible for the safety of the protesters.
El-Borhamy is a senior figure in the Salafist Call group and a co-founder of the Nour Party, one of the group’s political arms.
Islamic institution Al-Azhar also stressed its rejection of violence and incitement in a statement on Friday, stating that it holds the state as well all political parties and groups responsible for stopping violence and keeping all citizens safe regardless of their political affiliation.
"Al-Azhar will not get tired of reminding everyone with how sacred blood is," said the statement, which also insisted that the right to protest peacefully be maintained. The Sunni institution’s said that serious dialogue was the only exit from the current political crisis.
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