Egypt's top Muslim clerics said Wednesday (August 3rd) that an academy specialised in training preachers will be set up as part of the government's campaign against religious extremism, Egypt's Ahram Online reported.
The decision to establish the new religious body followed a meeting between Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb and Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, along with other top clerics.
The meeting, at which officials discussed means of "renewing religious discourse", came on the same day as similar talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and al-Tayeb.
The top scholars agreed to form an academy for Dawaa (proselytising) and preaching whose graduates would be the only clerics authorised to preach, serve as imams or issue edicts.
The new school will provide training to improve “competence” of clerics, officials say.
The moves come as part of the government's efforts to end the use of mosques as a platform for political groups and to clamp down on “extremist views”.
