Word: azhar
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...which approvingly cited the common bonds of Islam and Christianity-Moslems, for example, venerate Jesus as a prophet. The Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions created a special section to encourage dialogue with Islam, and Vienna's ecumenical-minded Franziskus Cardinal Konig has lectured at Al Azhar University in Cairo. At Baghdad's Al Hikma University, Jesuits are opening an institute for the study of Islamic culture...
Physics at Al Azhar. Within Islam there is a definite modernizing mood. Although the faith has traditionally opposed birth control almost as fiercely as Roman Catholicism, many ulama now justify it on the ground that the Koran allows leniency in the case of suffering. Far from being a static, otherworldly faith, say contemporary Arab philosophers, Islam encourages man to knowledge of the universe through science. But progress is slow. A rigidly fundamentalist approach to doctrine and discipline dominates Islam outside the cities. Moreover, it was only last year that physics, medicine and engineering courses were introduced at Islam...
Mamoun, a lifetime judge and political power in Nasser's Arab Socialist Union, came out of retirement to take the job. As Grand Mufti of Egypt from 1955 until 1961, he issued thousands of rulings and interpretations on religious matters. As the 39th rector of Al Azhar, Mamoun's responsibilities are even more impressive. The post carries with it the titles of Grand Imam and Sheikh of Islam, which makes Mamoun the nearest thing to a Moslem pope. Yet with Egypt struggling to slough off its feudal ways, he must also guide the university toward turning...
...predecessor, Sheikh Mahmoud Chaltout, a leading scholar of the Koran who died in December, opened a school of commerce, made the study of English compulsory, revised the medieval law curriculum, established a separate college for girls. The government built an ultramodern "City of Islamic Missions" where Al Azhar's 3,600 foreign students, including six Americans, live in national dormitories with their own kitchens and common rooms...
Chaltout's changes aimed at making Al Azhar into a new university, while preserving its ancient eminence as a religious center. Mamoun intends to keep the combination. This fall, Al Azhar opens three new faculties of medicine, engineering and agriculture. And the three towering minarets that once cast their shadows on a courtyard of ragged students kneeling on straw mats now look down on modern classrooms and a swimming pool...