The Al-Azhar Freedoms Charter: The Egyptian Magna Carta

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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On January 11, 2012, I heard my fax singing.  The sweet song was faxed to me by the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, an NGO which I represent at the U.N.  Over the signature of ECFA’s Executive Director, Ambassador El-Sayed Amin Shalaby, the covering note stated:

“Knowing of your interest in Al-Azhar and its mission, I am sending to you as attached hereto Al-Azhar’s document entitled “The Basic Freedoms Document” which was issued on January 8, 2012.  You will realize the importance of the timing of its issuance in view of the increasing apprehension felt in regard to the basic freedoms, particularly religious and cultural freedoms.”

Al-Azhar “Freedoms Charter” of January 8, 2012 has built upon the earlier Al-Azhar document of August 17, 2011.  Co-signed by Pope Shenoudah, the great Coptic Patriarch and Egyptian Scholar, the January 8 Charter states in its preamble in Arabic:

“Following upon the liberational revolutions from which sprang freedoms and which gave impetus to a comprehensive renaissance amongst all sectors of society, the Egyptians, together with the rest of all Arabs and Muslims look to the Nation’s scholars and thinkers to define the relationship between the over-arching principles of the tolerant Islamic Sharia and the bundle of basic rights unanimously recognized by international conventions.”

Then the document goes straight on to the definition of the basis within which “the civilisational experience of the Egyptian people” is framed.  These are:

“the freedom of opinion and expression, the freedom of scientific research, the freedom of literary and artistic creativity, taking into account the observance of the objectives of Sharia and the recognition of the spirit of modern constitutional legislation, and the requirements of humanitarian and informational progress.”

So to what end does all this lead?  The Charter’s response is:

“…in order to enable the Nation to transition to the establishment of its constitutional structures in peace, moderation, and in a spirit of consensus, moderation and with God’s blessings.  This is while guarding at all times against the false calls which use as a pretext religious injunctions for doing good and the avoidance of evil.  Such a pretext enables these false calls to intervene in public and private freedoms; thus contravening the civilisational and societal development of modern Egypt at the very time when the country needs unity, and a true understanding of moderation in faith.  This is the Al-Azhar’s religious mission and its responsibility towards society and the homeland.”

From thence follow the various freedoms promulgated by that historic document.  These, in summary, are:

First: “Freedom of Faith”:

Stresses the relationship between freedom of faith and the right to full equality in citizenship for all on the basis of equality.  The document refers to the verse in the Quran “no compulsion in faith,” and moves on from there to criminalize any aspect of such compulsion or religious discrimination.  It calls for the right of everyone to adopt whatever thought they may espouse, without aggressing against society’s obligation to protect the sanctity of the three “religions of the Book” (i.e. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). 


It ends with the adage espoused by scholars of ijtihad (the application of reason to faith) and legislation in regard to the “golden rule” which states “if reason and adherence to what is written collide, reason should prevail, and adherence to the written should be reinterpreted.”


Second: Freedom of Thought and Expression

The Al-Azhar’s Magna Carta describes this freedom as being at the root of all freedoms, as is manifest in the utilization of all means of expression in writing, artistic production and digitized outreach.  It incompasses the right to assembly, to the establishment of parties and other civil society organizations, freedom of the printed, audio, visual and digital press as well as access to information necessary  for informed consent.


This freedom, the Charter cautions, does not include the right to inciting violence, sectarian discord or radical calls for discrimination.  It quotes the maxim of the great historical Muslim scholars which states: “My view is correct but is subject to error, and the opposing view is wrong but is subject to rectification.”


Third: The Freedom of Scientific Research:

The Charter describes this freedom as encompassing social, humanitarian, physical and mathematical sciences.  It defines this freedom as the engine of the train of human progress.  It cites the Quran’s emphasis in many of its verses on the need for examination, reflection, extrapolation and analogy in regard to universal and human phenomena.


On these bases, the Document calls for total academic freedom allowing for experimentation, hypotheses and probability.  It cites some of the names of the great Muslim scholars such as Al-Razi, Ibn Haitham, and Ibn Al-Nafees who contributed in their time to the advancement of knowledge and science in both East and West.


Fourth: The Freedom of Literary and Artistic Creativity

The Charter ends with this type of freedom as covering all types of literature, poetry, song, drama, narration, theater, personal oral histories, visual arts, cinema, TV, music, together with all derivative types of this freedom.


This freedom, the Charter states, is boundless, and is premised only on the ability of society at any given time to absorb it and assimilate it.  It is, the Charter says, the mirror of society’s conscience, and its aspiration for a better future.


This equivalent of the Magna Carta was issued a mere 17 days before the first anniversary of the January 25 Revolution – a date which is now celebrated as the new national date of the New Egypt.  Thus it is correct to see in the Charter of January 8, 2012 a direct link to the ideological basis of the freedom of faith which is at the heart of global diversity.