Shaikh Tantawi as a Democratic Senator: a Liberal and a Stooge…………..
“Was Egypt's Sheikh Tantawi a liberal or a stooge? For some, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, was a bravely outspoken liberal; for others, a mouthpiece of the Egyptian state. Sheikh Tantawi, who has died of a heart attack at the age of 81 while on a trip to Saudi Arabia, was not afraid of controversy. Since his appointment in 1996 as head of al-Azhar - Egypt's 1,000-year-old mosque and university - he sparked almost constant debate because of his outspoken views…….”
He was both a stooge and a relative liberal. Relatively liberal compared to Salafis or Saudi Shaikhs, and compared to all clerics in our Persian-American Gulf. And a stooge of the government that did its bidding. In being a stooge for the regime he was like all muftis in the Arab countries.
Which made him sort of like many Democrats in the United States Senate: liberals in one sense, but also stooges of the banking industry, health insurance industry, etc.
Cheers
mhg
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