<p>Cairo, <strong><em>NU Online</em></strong><br />Indonesian President Joko Widodo's special envoy Alwi Shihab has urged Al Azhar scholars and educators in Egypt to help spread moderate Islam in Indonesia.<><br /><br />"Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the grand sheikh of Al Azhar, positively welcomed President Jokowi's request to increase the spread of moderate Islamic understanding in Indonesia," Shihab stated in Cairo.<br /><br />During the meeting with Al-Thayeb last Sunday (22/03), Shihab was accompanied by Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt Nurfaizi Suwandi and Culture and Education Attach at the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo Fahmy Lukman.<br /><br />In response to President Jokowi's request, Al-Tayeb remarked that he was ready to send Al Azhar scholars and educators to Indonesia to improve the understanding of moderate Islam.<br /><br />Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayeb was appointed as grand sheikh of Al Azhar in March 2010, following the demise of his predecessor, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi.<br /><br />Al-Tayeb was formerly the president of Al Azhar for seven years, and had earlier served as the most powerful cleric in Egypt as its Grand Mufti for a period of two years.<br /><br />Some 3.5 thousand students from Indonesia are currently studying at Al Azhar, the oldest Muslim university in the world, with thousands of its alumni scattered throughout parts of Indonesia.<br /><br />Shihab emphasized that the spread of moderate Islamic understanding in Indonesia is very important amid the spread of radicalism on the pretext of religion.<br /><br /><strong>Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq</strong><br /><br /></p>

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