Document
To Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Wasil
Al-Azhar al-Sharif, Cairo, Egypt
Your Excellency,
It is with great sadness that we received the news of the passing away of Sheikh Mohammed Sayyid Tantawi, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar mosque and head of the al-Azhar University.
On behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and our members around the world, I express our most sincere condolences to you, to the respected Ulama’ of al-Azhar al-Sharif, and to the Arab and Muslim world.
Sheikh Tantawi will be remembered with great respect and appreciation for his remarkable contribution to Islamic scholarship, for his prominent role and genuine commitment to intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.
May God rest his soul in eternal peace.
Yours,
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit
WCC general secretary
