PBNU sends condolence letter to Indonesia's Egyptian embassy

Jakarta, NU online
The Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) Thursday sent a  condolence letter  following the death of the Al Azhar grand sheikh  Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi to the Indonesia's Egyptian embassy in  Jakarta.

"PBNU mourns and feels the loss of the death of the moderate  Islamic figure and respected throughout the Islamic world, even  among non-Muslims," deputy secretary of PBNU H Iqbal Su<>llam said.

According to Iqbal, general chairman of PBNU KH Hasyim Muzadi  had formerly ever met with Sayyed Tantawi prior to the 3rd  International conference of Islamic Scholars in mid 2008.

"Sheikh Tantawi also ever met with KH Hasyim Muzadi during his  visit to Jakarta. The two figures have jointly propagated moderate  Islamic views," he said.

Sayed Tantawi died on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia of a heart attack  suffered while boarding a plane, state media said.

Tantawi was the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat  of learning. He had been in Riyadh to attend the King Faisal awards  ceremony, Egypt's official MENA news agency said.

Tantawi, 81, was boarding an early morning flight when he suffered  severe pain and fell on the stairs, Egyptian television said. He was  rushed to the Amir Sultan hospital in Riyadh where doctors  pronounced him dead.

An Egyptian official told AFP that Tantawi had died of a heart attack.

The news of his death was "an indescribable shock," his son Amr  told the channel. Al-Azhar: prestigious institution, controversial head

"The family has decided that since God chose for him to die on Saudi  land, he will be buried in Al-Baqie" cemetery in Islam's second holy  city of Medina, he added.

Prayers were held in Tantawi's memory in Medina in the presence  of Saudi officials and Egyptian ambassador Mahmud Mohammed  Awf, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is also 81 and recovering  in Germany after a gall bladder operation, mourned the death of  Tantawi.

The Grand Imam was "one of the most honourable scholars in Islam,  and one of the defenders of its moderation, enlightenment and spirit  of forgiveness," Mubarak said in a statement carried by MENA.

The United States paid tribute to Tantawi's "hospitality," recalling that  he had hosted President Barack Obama when he visited Cairo to  deliver a keynote address to world Muslims in June last year.

"As the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University, he was a voice for faith  and tolerance who was widely respected in Muslim communities in  Egypt and around the globe, and by many who seek to build a  world grounded in mutual respect," said White House spokesman  Robert Gibbs.

Tantawi was appointed head of Al-Azhar, the 10th century university  that has trained the majority of Sunni Muslim clerics from Africa and  Asia, by Mubarak in 1996.

"The Islamic and Arabic world has lost a scholar and a jurisprudent"  who was "dedicated to his work and to everything that served the  good of Islam and Muslims," Al-Azhar said.

The softly spoken cleric with a trim white beard, who was always  seen wearing a traditional Azharite white turban, has long been a  controversial figure in Egypt.

His rulings on a wide range of topics, such as the Islamic veil,  abortion, suicide attacks, women prayer leaders and female  circumcision, often caused a stir in the Islamic world and beyond.

Many saw him as an employee of the state who moved Al-Azhar,  which is tasked with propagating Islamic culture and religion around  the world, in line with government policy.

"He was the weakest head of Al-Azhar ever because he saw himself  only as a government employee," Islamist and political analyst Kamal  Habib told AFP.

"His tenure saw a severe deterioration in Egypt's political life, and as  a result a deterioration of the religious institution because of its links  with politics," said Abdel Halim Qandil, a leading opposition figure.

Last October, a national row broke out after Tantawi banned the  niqab, or full face veil, in all residences and schools affiliated to Al- Azhar, except in classrooms where the teacher is male.

Many of his other rulings also ran into opposition in some Muslim  circles.

In 2003, he said suicide bombers were "enemies of Islam," adding  that "extremism is the enemy of Islam."

After the September 11 attacks on the United States, Tantawi said:  "It's not courage in any way to kill an innocent person, or to kill  thousands of people, including men and women and children."

He rejected Osama bin Laden's call for a jihad, or holy war, against  the West.

The top cleric also sparked controversy in 2008 by shaking hands  with Israeli President Shimon Peres at a religious conference. He  said at the time he did not know the octogenarian Peres. (nam)