Azhar launches global platform about Prophet Muhammad

CAIRO

Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, announced the launch of a multilingual platform about the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday, amid a global anger over French caricatures lampooning the Prophet.

“Al-Azhar launches a global platform to introduce the Prophet of Mercy and Messenger of humanity in many languages to the world,” Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, said at a ceremony marking the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.

“There will also be an international competition about the morals of Prophet Muhammad,” he said, adding that the prophet used to forgive those who did harm to him during his lifetime.

On Oct. 2, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a controversial plan to tackle what he calls “Islamic separatism” in France, claiming that the faith of Islam is in “crisis” all over the world and promising to “free Islam in France from foreign influences”.

Last week, Macron defended blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, saying France would “not give up our cartoons” after the brutal murder of high school teacher Samuel Paty, who showed provocative caricatures in a class.

The past few days have witnessed the republication of cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad in France which sparking a wave of anger and protests across the Islamic world and campaigns have been launched in some countries to boycott French products.

*Nour Abdullah contributed to this report from Ankara