King Abdullah’s mosque renovation


Issue 978 - 03 Oct 2014 | 1 minute read

King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz has given orders to renovate Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque at his expense, a move which not only underlines the current closeness between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but also signals a desire to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s role as the custodian of Sunni Islam, which is being threatened by jihadist counterclaims. Al-Azhar was founded by the Fatimids in around 970, and remains the foremost centre of Sunni Islamic learning; the United States has been trying to encourage a more vocal denunciation of extremism from within its walls, a message iterated also by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ), who visited Al-Azhar on 18 September.

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