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| From top: Ahmadinejad greeted by Morsi, next to the Grand Sheikh and then gloomy after the upbraiding |
It was not exactly “veni, vidi, vici” (ecclesiastical Latin for “I came, I saw, I
conquered”).
It was more like “I came, I saw, I tried” for Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad as he ended the first visit by a president of Shiite Iran to Egypt
since the Khomeini Revolution in 1979.
He arrived in Cairo Tuesday for a
summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). But his priority was
to try and thaw long, frigid ties with the Arab world’s most
populous nation following the election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed
Morsi as president in June.
Morsi
gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on the tarmac at Cairo airport, shaking
his hand, hugging and exchanging a kiss on each cheek.
In
the days he was in Cairo, Ahmadinejad called for a strategic alliance between
the two regional heavyweights to counter Western domination and promote unity
in the Islamic world. He even offered Egypt a “big credit line.”
But
Egypt's presidential spokesman Yasser Ali yesterday said an end to
the Syria crisis is a condition to restore Cairo’s diplomatic relations with
Tehran.
Additionally, Sunni-Shiite tensions dominated talks
between Ahmadinejad and Egypt's most prominent cleric Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb,
the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar mosque and university, who
gave the Iranian leader a dressing down on a string of issues.
Al-Azhar is the highest seat of
religious learning in the Sunni-Muslim world.
According
to a sum
up of the talks posted on al-Azhar’s website, al-Tayeb told Ahmadinejad:
- Al-Azhar
mosque and university have over a millennium-long history. Over half a million
men and women students from 103 countries are enrolled at the university, which
teaches all roots, branches and philosophies of Islam without exception
- Two
of our ulema are among those attending this meeting. Their respective
specialties are two Shiite philosophers, theologians and scholars, namely Sadr
ad-Din Muhammad Shirazi (1572-1640) and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
(1201-1274).
- “Allow me to say we are extremely
disappointed to hear ceaseless insults hurled at the (Prophet’s) Companions and
the Believers’ Mothers, God bless them. That’s totally unacceptable.” (Those figures are widely resented among Shiites because they are seen
as having pushed aside Imam Ali ibn
Abi Taleb, the prophet's son-in-law, who Shiites consider his rightful
successor. The dispute over succession is at the root of the centuries old
split between Islam's Shiite and Sunni denominations.)
- “We absolutely reject
the extension of Shiite reach” in Sunni countries and in Egypt.
- “Despite all what
al-Azhar sees and hears of the insults hurled at the Companions and Aisha – God bless them – and Imam Bukhari, we don’t want to engage in a
dispute we all can do without.”
- Iran must give its
Sunni citizens their full rights. Citizenship is indivisible according to
modern law and Islamic Sharia.
- A word about (Iran’s)
meddling in the affairs of Bahrain and the Arab countries: The loyalty of
Bahrainis should be to their homeland. No one should interfere in the
Bahrainis’ internal affairs or in the affairs of Gulf Arab states.
- Immediate action is
needed to bring a halt to bloodshed in beloved Syria.
As the Iranian
president walked past the ancient al-Hussein mosque near al-Azhar, a man believed
to be Syrian attempted to hurl a shoe at him.
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| Ahmadinejad in tears next to Sayyida Zaynab's tomb |
Unperturbed, Ahmadinejad
later visited the mosque and mausoleum of Sayyida Zaynab in the
capital's Old Cairo district, where he cried beside the Muslim matriarch's
tomb.
Sayyida Zaynab was the
daughter of Imam Ali, the central figure of Shiite Islam and the cousin of Prophet
Muhammad.
Ahmadinejad greeted the
mosque's superintendents with hugs and kisses. After praying inside the mosque,
he headed to the adjacent mausoleum where he shed tears and prayed next to
Sayyida Zaynab's tomb.
Editorially, Mohammed
bin Abdellatif Aal ash-Shaikh, writing for today’s
edition of the Saudi daily newspaper al-Jazirah,
says the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar must have “greatly embarrassed” Egypt’s
Muslim Brotherhood.
“He is a stumbling block
hindering Egypt’s move away from its traditional political positions toward
rapprochement with Iran. That’s what the Brotherhood’s Egypt is trying to do.”
Ash-Shaikh recalls, “The
Brotherhood was the first Sunni group to applaud Khomeini’s takeover in Iran. It
sent a delegation to congratulate him on his return to Tehran and considered
his accession to power a triumph for Islam and Muslims…
“At the same time, the
Muslim Brothers want to draw closer to Iran, the Number One enemy of Gulf Arab countries,
to sponge off financial aid from them. The Brothers’ links with Iran, in other
words, are meant to pump off cash” from the Gulf Cooperation Council partners.
Except that the Grand Sheikh of
al-Azhar Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb will continue standing in their way.
Egypt’s famed talk show host Imad
Adeeb, writing for the leading Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat, says al-Tayeb told Ahmadinejad in the face, “Stop
persecuting the Sunnis of Iran. Respect the security of Gulf Arab states. Don’t
back Bashar’s regime in his campaign against Syria’s Sunnis.”
Adeeb notes, “The Egyptian press and TV channels did not welcome
Ahmadinejad. The masses did not crowd the streets to greet him. What was
supposed to be a historic visit had nothing historic about it. The dream proved
a nightmare. The signals from political and religious forces were
disappointing…
“Ahmadinejad had hoped the Egyptian capital would compensate for the imminent
exit of Assad’s Damascus from Iran’s sphere of influence. The Cairo visit
dissipated that hope.”
