Noch ein Beispiel aus der Reihe Paradoxien der Befreiung, die sich gerade vor unseren Augen in der arabischen Welt abspielt. Die Al-Azhar-Universität, die wichtigste theologische Autorität im sunnitischen Islam, gerät in die Mühle der befreiten ägyptischen Politik.
Bisher wurde der Scheich Al-Azhar vom Präsidenten ernannt, und zwar auf Lebenszeit. Das gab dem Regime außerordentliche Macht über diese Autorität in Glaubensfragen. Der ägyptische Islam hatte die Form einer Staatskirche, mit dem Großscheich von Gnaden des Präsidenten (ähnlich dem Erzbischof von Canterbury als vom König bestellten Kopf der anglikanischen Kirche).
Nun ist das wohl kaum mehr zeitgemäß. Starke Kräfte dringen auf die „Befreiung“ der Azhar vom Staat. Ganz vorneweg dabei die Muslimbrüder und die Salafisten der Nour-Partei, die den derzeitigen Großscheich ablehnen wegen dessen Nähe zu Mubarak – und die sich erhoffen, in einer „befreiten“ Al-Azhar mehr Einfluß zu haben. So könnte die paradoxe Folge der Befreiung dieser Institution sein, dass dort demnächst ein (noch) sehr viel mehr rigider, sehr viel mehr politischer Islam gelehrt wird, wie die Washington Post berichtet:
In the aftermath of the revolution, there is widespread agreement among politicians in Egypt that al-Azhar needs greater independence. The question is whether that also means a lurch toward a more rigid and less tolerant school of Islam to match the increasingly doctrinaire mood of the Egyptian people.
There is evidence that such a shift is underway and that it could go much further.
Members of Egypt’s two main Islamist groups — the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Nour party — control between them an overwhelming majority in Egypt’s new parliament. Seated in January, they are already working on legislation that would strip the grand sheik of his lifetime appointment and that could give them a major say in picking a successor.
The current grand sheik, Ahmed el-Tayib, is a Sorbonne-educated scholar who emphasizes interfaith dialogue and is known for his relatively progressive fatwas, the religious pronouncements that carry the weight of law when issued by al-Azhar. But he was also a committee member in Mubarak’s hated National Democratic Party and was appointed by Mubarak himself.
Just days before the new parliament was sworn in, Egypt’s ruling generals approved a law that would authorize a committee of scholars to choose the grand sheik but that would effectively allow Tayib to pick the committee.
Politicians from Nour and the Brotherhood, who have been reluctant to challenge the nation’s military rulers on many issues, say they will fight on this one. They argue that Tayib is too closely tied to the old regime to lead an organization that will pass judgment on the religious merits of everything Egypt’s new government tries to do.
“Liberating state institutions like al-Azhar is even more critical to us than the presidential election or rewriting the constitution,” said Mohammed Nour, the Nour party’s spokesman. “Ensuring the independence of the institution that determines what is and is not Islamic is extremely important.”
Nour said the only way to guarantee genuine independence is to open up the grand sheik position to an election — one in which all al-Azhar University graduates get to vote, or even all Egyptians.
Ein Beweis dafür, dass die Azhar sich bereits voll im Modus der Radikalisierung befindet, sieht die Post in dem Auftritt des Hamas-Führers Ismail Hanije in Kairo. Der wäre vor 12 Monaten noch undenkbar gewesen. Doch nun erhielt Hanije rauschenden Applaus für seine leidenschaftliche Ansprache:
The Brotherhood’s newfound influence was on full display Feb. 24, when Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister in Hamas-run Gaza, spoke at al-Azhar after Friday prayers. Just over a year ago, Haniyeh’s presence would have been unthinkable. Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and the Brotherhood are part of the same Islamic movement, and both were banned under Mubarak, whose government upheld a peace treaty with Israel.
But on that day, al-Azhar gave Haniyeh a rapturous welcome. As he proclaimed from the pulpit that Hamas would “liberate” Jerusalem, home to the revered al-Aqsa mosque, the Brotherhood-dominated crowd of worshipers chanted back, “From al-Azhar to al-Aqsa we will march, millions of martyrs.”