Al-Azhar Chancellor, Religious Leaders Hail Imam Khamenei's Fatw

The chancellor of Al-Azhar University of Islamic Sciences welcomed a fatwa issued by Iran's Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei that prohibits insulting the companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his wives.

Ahmad al-Tayyib said in a statement issued on Sunday that the fatwa (religious edict), which was issued by Imam Khamenei, was prudent and timely and would help ram the door shut to fitna (creating divisions among Muslims)

"I received the blessed fatwa with appreciation," he added.

Such insults have always been a source of controversy and disputes between Shia and Sunni Muslims and prevented them from forging a robust unity against common enemies, the Press TV correspondent in Cairo quoted him as saying.

The Western media have not given the fatwa wide coverage, but the Egyptian people and the North African country's media outlets have welcomed the brave move by Iran's Leader.

The Secretary-General of the Nation movement Sheikh Abdel Nasser El-Jabri hailed the fatwa during an interview with Al-Manar TV. Jabri said that the awareness of the Islamic nation leaders will cut the way on all the American and Zionist schemes to cause sectarian strife.

The head of the Sunni society to support the resistance in Lebanon Sheikh Maher Mezher welcomed the wisdom and knowledge of Imam Khamenei’s fatwa stressing that his eminence possesses all the qualities required for the commander of the Islamic nation.

In turn, the association of Muslim Scholars in Akkar and the North considered the fatwa a bridge of unity between Muslims calling the Imam a just and devout leader.

Head of the Akkar gathering former MP Wajih Baairini appreciated the responsible attitudes that seek to bury the strife and unite the people.

“Imam Khamenei is a leader who has the talent and religious thought that grants him to be the Nation’s leader with a heart filled with love and tolerance,” former MP Mustafa Hussein Imam Khamenei stressed.

Islamic Action Front in Lebanon issued a statement in which it praised the fatwa issued by Sayyed Khamenei considered that the issuance of this fatwa from the Shiites’ highest religious and political authority is the best evidence on the consciousness of the Islamic nation in the face of intrigues and conspiracies.