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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Interview Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Shifting fortunes for Ulama front
By Mona El-NahhasIn a fresh development in the continuing battle of the Front of Al-Azhar Ulama [scholars], a report by the State Commissioners Authority has come out in favour of its dissolution, which was decided last year by Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata. The Authority will submit its report to the Supreme Administrative Court, but its position is not binding.
The report argued that the dissolution order has a solid legal basis because the Front was guilty of administrative irregularities in violation of the law. According to the report, the Front had turned a deaf ear to repeated requests by the Ministry of Social Affairs to modify its policy after it was proven that it went beyond its scope of being a social association, and began taking certain political positions.
The decree by Shehata, who is legally authorised to order the dissolution of social associations, was issued in response to a request by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi. The latter's liberal positions are opposed by members of the Front. The Cairo governor appointed a five-man temporary board to run the Front's affairs for one year, until elections of a new board take place.
Members of the dissolved board filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court, contesting the dissolution order. Last month, the court annulled the dissolution order, noting that it has no legal ground because the Front's board had committed no financial or administrative irregularities. The court also ruled that decisions taken by the appointed five-man board were null and void. Shehata and Tantawi contested the court's decision with the Supreme Administrative Court.
Members of the dissolved board said they would continue to hold meetings and exercise their rights until the Supreme Administrative Court gives its final word. "The appeal filed by the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Cairo governor does not stop the implementation of the [lower] Administrative Court's decision," said Yehya Ismail, a member of the dissolved board.
Last week, Ismail was fined LE100 by a Court of Appeals for refusing to provide the appointed board with the Front's documents. Ismail was sued by Sheikh Fawzi El-Zefzaf, the board's head.
Ismail said, "El-Zefzaf has no right to file this lawsuit because he no longer heads the Front after the Administrative Court annulled the decree of the Cairo governor."
