Gunmen opened fire at Egypt's former Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa in a Cairo suburb on Friday (August 5th), missing the cleric but wounding a bodyguard, AFP reported.
Gomaa was on his way to a mosque near his house in the October 6 suburb when assailants hiding in a park started shooting, the interior ministry said.
His guards exchanged fire with the gunmen and forced them to flee, the ministry said, adding that one of the guards was lightly wounded.
Gomaa later told Egyptian state television he had taken shelter behind a mosque wall when the shooting started.
After the attack, he "conducted the Friday prayers as a message to these people", the cleric said, adding that "this attempt is a message aimed at creating fear".
Gomaa, who served as Grand Mufti for a decade until 2013, said there have been several previous attempts to target him.
Since stepping down as mufti, Gomaa has remained one of the country's top Islamic scholars and is known for his moderate views on religion. He is a member of the Al-Azhar council of senior scholars, and has hosted a religious affairs programme on television.
