Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam on 6-day India visit

ICCR president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said Shawki Allam’s visit is in line with ICCR’s activities to strengthen India’s ties with other countries.

NEW DELHI: The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, on Monday started his six-day visit to India at the invitation of an official body to deepen cultural links between the two sides and for meetings with Indian interlocutors aimed at fostering inter-faith understanding.

Shawki Allam, elected to his post by Al Azhar University’s council of senior scholars, has frequently criticised terrorism, including attacks that targeted Egypt’s Christian minority (Twitter/iccr_hq)

Shawki Allam is visiting at the invitation of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous body under the external affairs ministry, under its Distinguished Visitors Programme. Besides holding meetings in New Delhi, the influential cleric will travel to Agra, Aligarh, Hyderabad and Jaipur, people familiar with the matter said. The cleric will visit Aligarh Muslim University on Tuesday to hold talks with vice chancellor Mohammad Gulrez and address students.

ICCR president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said the visit is in line with ICCR’s activities to strengthen India’s ties with other countries.

“This visit is a normal practice. It is a cultural relations enhancement initiative, at the core of which is deepening of understanding of Indian culture,” he said.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January this year, the first Egyptian leader hosted by India for the Republic Day.

The Grand Mufti’s visit is in line with the Indian side’s efforts to engage with clerics from influential Muslim countries. During a visit to New Delhi by Indonesia’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Mohammed Mahfud Mahmodin last November, he and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval interacted with Muslim scholars from the two countries to discuss issues such as terrorism and separatism.

The visit is also taking place at a time when the Union government is attempting to make overtures towards minority communities in India. An ICCR functionary, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, stressed that such visits are decided in consultation with foreign missions in New Delhi.

In an article written ahead of his visit to India, Shawki Allam referred to statements by Sisi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the need for cooperation and bridge-building in a challenging world. Though such overtures have been welcomed by many, he said practical steps are needed to turn such good wishes into a sustained relationship of mutual trust and respect. “This is the message I wish to deliver on behalf of the Muslim world in India this week,” he wrote.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been making concerted efforts to reach out to minorities and PM Modi’s instructions to party colleagues has been to build ties with these communities, irrespective of their voting preferences. Last year, at a meeting of the BJP’s national executive, he instructed party leaders to reach out to Pasmanda Muslims, considered socially and economically backward, and to ensure they receive the benefits of social welfare schemes.

A second BJP functionary, who asked not to be identified, said the Grand Mufti’s visit will help dispel notions that the Indian government follows a discriminatory approach towards minority communities.

“There are vested interest groups, both within the country and outside, who attempt to weave a narrative that minorities in India are under attack. The reach of social welfare schemes (among minority communities) does puncture this narrative, but when dignitaries from the Middle East, Central Asia and other places get a first-hand account of the governance model, it helps further,” the BJP functionary said.

Shawki Allam, elected to his post by Al Azhar University’s council of senior scholars, has frequently criticised terrorism, including attacks that targeted Egypt’s Christian minority and the Shia community in Pakistan.

In a 2018 treatise, the Grand Mufti described terrorism as a “manifestation of the immorality of people with cruel hearts, arrogant souls, and warped logic”. “Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understand the factors that provide a rationalisation for terrorism and extremism, we will never be able to eradicate this scourge,” he wrote in the treatise.