Cairo: In a historic precedent that is first of its kind, Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar — Egypt has appointed Nahla Al Saidi, the dean of the college of Islamic sciences for expats, as his advisor.
This is the first time in Al Azhar’s 1,000-year history that a woman has been appointed to the position of advisor, after many decades of restricting those positions to men only.
In an interview with Al Arabiya Net, Al Saidi considered that “the Sheikh of Al Azhar’s confidence in her came as a mandate to carry the heavy trust and honour and appreciate the role of Egyptian women.”
She pointed out that “the aim of the Sheikh of Al Azhar’s decision to appoint her is to communicate religion and the Arabic language to the world, to graduate ambassadors of Islam and the language in their countries, and to spread Al Azhar’s global message that carries moderation, peace, justice and mercy.”
Who is Nahla Al Saidi?
It is noteworthy that Dr Nahla Al Saidi graduated from Al Azhar University in 1996 and obtained an honours degree in language, then a master’s degree in rhetoric and criticism in 2001 and a doctorate in 2004.
She rose in job positions, as she was appointed to the college of Islamic and Arabic studies for girls in Cairo as a teaching assistant, then was promoted to the rank of professor. She has many publications and participated in many international conferences and discussed a large number of scientific theses.
In January 2019, she was appointed as vice dean of the faculty of Islamic and Arabic studies for girls in Cairo, dean of the faculty of Islamic sciences for ex-pats in Nasr city, and served as head of the international program for the education of non-Arabic speaking teachers.
Social networking sites in Egypt witnessed a wide interaction following the decision, and appointment of Nahla Al Saidi, especially among the women who saw the decision as a major reform step on the way to restoring women’s religious status.
It is noteworthy that Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb said, in previous television interviews, that “a woman has the right to assume high positions, the judiciary, and fatwas, and to travel without a mahram, whenever her travel is safe.”
El-Tayeb emphasized that one of the women’s gains is the agreement of scholars of the Al Azhar International Conference for Renewal of Islamic Thought that it is permissible for her by Sharia to hold positions that are compatible with all of them, including the positions of the supreme state and the functions of the judiciary and fatwas.
