![Egyptian Muslims perform the morning Eid al-Adha prayer outside al-Sedik mosque in Cairo's north-eastern suburb of Sheraton on September 1st. [Khaled Desouki/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2017/09/22/9727-Egypt-muslims-eid-700_496.webp)
The General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide (GSFAW) on Thursday (September 21st) announced the graduation of its first batch of students from a training programme designed to serve Muslim clerics in the West.
The 16 graduates will serve in mosques and Islamic centres in Britain.
The programme provides training to imams outside Egypt on how to confront radical ideology and prevent Muslim youth from falling prey to extremist thinking, Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa said in a statement.
The programme also aims to improve the integration of Muslims into Western societies and to confront Islamophobia, the statement said.
The move is part of an Egyptian effort to provide moderate religious guidance and build foreign relations based on co-operation to realise global peace, it said.
Confronting radical groups abroad
"GSFAW seeks to play its role amid a multitude of challenges facing the world," said Egypt’s Grand Mufti and GSFAW secretary-general Shawqi Allam.
"The training of mosque and Islamic centre imams in Western countries is important in the intellectual confrontation against radical groups," he said.
Studies show that about half of the approximately 50,000 "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) fighters hail from Muslim communities in the West, he noted.
"The terrorist group’s media operate in 12 languages, and that was why moderate Muslim organisations [...] had to present themselves to strongly and firmly respond to perverted ideology with a sound, scientific approach," he said.
"Religious and community fatwas issued by non-specialised Muslims abroad cause a lot of confusion in those societies and lead to extremism among youth," he said.
Imams and preachers in the West can play a key role in correcting false fatwas and the misconceptions of Muslims abroad, he added.
"Training and qualifying preachers is an important step in renewing religious discourse, spreading correct and moderate Islam, combating extremism and countering radical groups," he said.
