Muis, Al-Azhar University renew asatizah training agreement as President Tharman wraps Egypt visit

CAIRO – Muis and Al-Azhar University, which has trained every Mufti of Singapore, on Sept 22 renewed their agreement for the institution to continue training potential Islamic religious teachers from Singapore to teach Islam in modern societies.

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was at the signing of the agreement on the final day of

his state visit to Egypt

, along with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, which is affiliated with the university.

The memorandum of understanding between the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, or Muis, and the university was first signed in 2019.

As part of the renewed agreement, a lecturer from Al-Azhar University will continue to visit Singapore annually to deliver lectures on the module Methodologies of Teaching Islam in Contemporary Societies, which touches on topics like ways to address extremist ideologies.

The module is part of Muis’ postgraduate certificate in Islam in Contemporary Societies, a one-year full-time programme that aims to help religious graduates returning from overseas readjust and contextualise what they have learnt abroad to local social and political contexts.

Religious graduates hoping to serve as an asatizah, or a religious teacher, in Singapore are required to hold the certificate.

The renewal of the agreement was signed at Mashiakhet Al-Azhar in Cairo by Dr Albakri Ahmad, deputy chief executive of Muis, and Dr Salama Dawood, president of Al-Azhar University.

After the signing, President Tharman was taken on a tour of Al-Azhar mosque alongside his delegation, where he learnt about the mosque and saw a group of children learning how to recite the Quran.

At a Sept 19 reception for overseas Singaporeans, President Tharman noted that Al-Azhar University has trained every one of Singapore’s muftis.

“Al-Azhar University is not just a pillar of Islamic scholarship, but also a beacon of tolerance, dialogue and peaceful coexistence,” he said.

As he wrapped up his state visit on Sept 22, President Tharman also went to St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, where he met Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church.

While the majority of the Egyptian population is Muslim, there is a significant Christian population in the country, most of whom are Coptic Christians.

In a guest book, the President wrote a note addressed to the Pope, saying that His Holiness’ message of “promoting peace through tolerance, forgiveness, unity and dialogue holds special resonance for a world tormented by rivalry, bigotry and conflict”.

Earlier on Sept 22, President Tharman visited the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), a 461 sq km area established in 2015 along the banks of the Suez Canal.

One of the world’s busiest waterways linking the East to the West, the Suez Canal has seen traffic decline since late 2023 owing to regional conflict, particularly threats in the Red Sea.

President Tharman received a briefing from SCZone chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dien about the opportunities for Singapore to invest in the area.

Mr El-Dien said that one of the major opportunities is to develop some of the land in the area – like what Singapore has done with neighbouring Asian countries – by building necessary infrastructure to bring in investors, adding on to 15 industrial developers already in the zone.