The Grand Imam of al-Azhar (), also known as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar (), is a prestigious and a prominent official title in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the Islamic world. The current Grand Imam is Ahmed el-Tayeb, who assumed the role on 10 March 2010. The Grand Imam of al-Azhar is considered, by most Muslims, to be the highest authority in Sunni Islamic thought and

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

and holds great influence on followers of the theological

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

and

Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...

traditions worldwide. The Grand Imam heads the Al-Azhar Al Sharif, al-Azhar Mosque, and by extension

al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

, and is responsible for official religious matters along with the Grand Mufti of Egypt.

History

The title of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar was officially established in 1961. In the 14th century the head of al-Azhar was granted the title of ''Mushrif of al-Azhar'', then later '' Nazir'' of Al-Azhar and, during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar. Today the bearer of the title also carries the title of the Grand Sheikh.

History

See also

References

Further reading