Following The Death Of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, Al-Azhar, The Supreme Religious Authority In The Sunni Muslim World, Issues A Statement Mourning 'The Heroes Of The Palestinian Resistance': They Are Not Terrorists But Righteous Warriors

Hours after Israel announced the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on October 17, 2024, the Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the supreme religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world, issued  a statement mourning "the martyrs of the Palestinian resistance." Posted on Al-Azhar's official social media accounts, the statement was generally understood in the media to be a eulogy glorifying Sinwar, although his name was not mentioned.[1]  The statement rejects Israel's description of these "martyrs" as terrorists, calling this an attempt to slander them, and asserts that they are "heroes" and "resistance fighters" who "instilled fear in their enemies and filled their hearts with trepidation," and "defended… the cause of the Arabs and Muslims" until "Allah granted them martyrdom." The statement adds that dying for the Palestinian cause is "an unparalleled honor."

In response, Egyptian liberal Dalia Ziada, known for her criticism of Hamas, wrote a post on her X account in which she harshly condemned Al-Azhar and others in Egypt who had mourned Sinwar, calling them a threat to Egypt's national security.

It should be noted that Al-Azhar's statement is in line with the unreserved support extended by this institution and by its head, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, to Hamas. Immediately after the organization's October 7, 2023 terror attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage, Al-Azhar issued a statement declaring that the institution "salutes with utmost pride the resistance efforts of the proud Palestinian people."[2] In another statement several days later, Al-Azhar again saluted the steadfastness of the Palestinians in Gaza in their struggle against Israel and their willingness to be martyred on its soil.[3] Moreover, since October 7, 2023 Al-Azhar officials have frequently incited against Israel and the U.S. while using virulently antisemitic rhetoric, calling the Jews "the descendants of apes and pigs," "killers of the prophets" and "enemies of humanity" and hoping for their demise. The dean of the Islamic and Arabic Studies faculty at Al-Azhar University, Muhammad Omar Al-Qady, blasted the U.S., calling it "the greatest Satan" and "a global mafia."[4]

It should also be noted that the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, is known for his extremist positions and support for terrorism and terrorist organizations, and refuses to promote moderate religious discourse as part of the fight against extremism and terror. This is despite his frequent participation in interfaith dialogue and although he signed the Document on Human Fraternity along with Pope Francis in 2019. In the past he stated, for example, that martyrdom attacks by Palestinians against Israeli targets are legitimate acts of self-defense, because, as long as Israel, the "barbaric enemy," continues to attack the Palestinians with Western and American backing, the Palestinians are entitled "to blow up whatever they want." He also said that there was no proof that Osama bin Laden had been responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks and hinted that Israelis may have been behind them. On another occasion he claimed that fundamentalist terrorist groups are the product of imperialism in the service of global Zionism. Moreover, Al-Azhar under Al-Tayyeb refuses to accuse Muslim terrorists of heresy – which would have deprived them of religious justification for their violent actions – thus undermining the efforts of Egyptian President 'Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi to promote moderate religious discourse.[5]

This report presents the statement posted by Al-Azhar immediately after the report of Sinwar's death, the remarks in praise of Sinwar made by Al-Azhar lecturer Al-Swahili, and the criticism voiced by Egyptian liberal Ziada against Al-Azhar for eulogizing Hamas' leader. 

Al-Azhar: Dying For The Palestinian Cause Is An Unparalleled Honor

As stated, only hours after the news of Sinwar's death was officially confirmed, Al-Azhar posted on its social media accounts a statement that eulogized him without explicitly mentioning his name. The post said:

"Al-Azhar mourns the heroic martyrs of the Palestinian resistance who have been targeted by the criminal Zionist hand that has sowed destruction and corruption in our Arab lands, and has killed, destroyed, occupied, robbed and exterminated. All of this [is happening] in the sight and hearing of countries whose will and capacity to think have become paralyzed, and of the international community that is keeping as silent as the grave, while international law is not worth the ink with which it is written.

"Al-Azhar affirms that the martyrs of the Palestinian resistance were righteous resistance fighters; they instilled fear in their enemies and filled their hearts with trepidation. They were not terrorists, as the enemy falsely seeks to present them, but rather murabitoun [warriors stationed on the front lines of  battle], resistance fighters who stubbornly cleaved to their homeland until Allah granted them martyrdom as they defended their land and their cause, [which is also] our cause and the cause of the Arabs and Muslims worldwide.

"In mourning the martyrs of the Palestinian resistance, Al-Azhar emphasizes the importance of exposing the lies of the Zionist media machine and its attempts to blacken the image of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance in the eyes of our youth and our children and present them as terrorists. [Al-Azhar] asserts that resistance in defense of the homeland, the soil and the [Palestinian] cause, and dying for this cause, are an unparalleled honor."[6]

Al-Azhar's post

Graphic on Al-Azhar's social media presents excerpts from the full statement: "The martyrs of the Palestinian resistance were not terrorists"; "they were righteous resistance fighters" (Image: Facebook.com/OfficialAzharEg, x.com/AlAzhar, October 18, 2024)

Al-Zahar In Later Post: Any Martyr Killed In Defense Of His Homeland Has “Made A Profitable Transaction”

Also on October 18, 2024, Al-Azhar shared another post on its social media accounts that many users interpreted as praise and eulogy of Yahya Sinwar. The post featured a video quoting a hadith about the Prophet Muhammad’s companion Suhayb Ibn Sinan Al-Rumi – known also as Abu Yahya, notably similar to Yahya Sinwar – who gave up all his property and wealth in order to follow Muhammad, after which Muhammad said that he had “made a profitable transaction.”[7] The post’s caption reads: “Abu Yahya made a profitable transaction, and so has anyone martyred in defense of his homeland.”[8]

This post garnered many responses and sparked heated arguments among social media users. Many expressed disappointment that Al-Azhar did not explicitly mention Yahya Sinwar, while others praised the post, seeing it as support for Sinwar and the resistance.[9]

Al-Azhar University Paper: Resistance Is Honor

On October 19, 2024, The Voice of Al-Azhar, the Al-Azhar University paper, dedicated its front page to a eulogy of Sinwar. Headlined "Al-Azhar Mourns the Heroic Martyrs of the Palestinian Resistance," the front page features an illustration of Sinwar in the last moments before his death, throwing a stick at the Israeli drone that was filming him. Superimposed on the picture is a caption in Arabic and English saying, "Resistance is honor; the makers of genocide are terrorism,"  and beneath it are excerpts from the abovementioned statement issued by Al-Azhar on the occasion of Sinwar's death.[10]

The front page of the October 19 issue of The Voice of Al-Azhar

Egyptian Liberal: Al-Azhar's Mourning Of Sinwar Is A Threat To Egypt's National Security

U.S.-based Egyptian liberal Dalia Ziada, executive director of the MEEM Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies, condemned Al-Azhar for extoling the Palestinian resistance fighters, hinting at Sinwar. Ziada, who was forced to leave Egypt a year ago after receiving death threats for criticizing Hamas' October 7 attack and for her pro-Israel positions, wrote in English on her personal X account: "Walking through my timeline, I found Egyptians from different political and ideological backgrounds mourning Sinwar! Am I shocked? YES! Hamas has killed Egyptians before… some of them I personally knew!! Al-Azhar Institute, which calls itself centrist/moderate, made a statement to glorify the 'heroes' of Hamas to mourn Sinwar! These are the people who chased me and forced me to get out of Egypt. They are the real threat to Egypt’s national security, not me!"[11]

Dalia Ziada's post