Sources say Egypt pressing Al-Azhar 'to back UAE' against Iran

“Sources say Egypt pressing Al-Azhar 'to back UAE' against Iran Submitted by MEE correspondent on Tue, 05/19/2026 - 15:45 The Sunni world’s top Islamic body shifted its line after a presidential warning that Egyptian jobs in the Gulf were at stake UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) receiving Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, at al-Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi on 12 July 2024 (AFP/UAE Presidency/file photo) Off Egypt ’s presidency has pressed Al-Azhar, the leading authority in Sunni Islam, to publicly back the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states in their confrontation with Iran , security sources and sources close to the institution’s grand imam said. The Cairo-based seat of Sunni learning has issued four statements since the start of the current war, including one that condemned Iranian strikes on the UAE as “the aggression of the Islamic Republic of Iran against its Muslim neighbour, the United Arab Emirates”. Al-Azhar has not condemned American or Israeli strikes on Iran in any of its statements, a shift from its position during last year’s war, when it described that conflict as “the aggression of the occupying entity against the Islamic Republic of Iran”. The earlier stance had angered the UAE, the sources said, although Gulf territory had not then come under attack. The Emirati newspaper Al-Khaleej criticised Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb’s position at the time. At the outset of the current war, state agencies demanded that Al-Azhar align unambiguously with Gulf states and avoid any mention of US and Israeli strikes, sources within the institution’s leadership told Middle East Eye. “It was stated plainly and directly by the presidential institution that there are major interests with the Gulf and the US that we cannot sacrifice under the current economic conditions, that what happened over Gaza cannot be repeated, and that Al-Azhar would bear the blame for the Egyptians who lose their jobs in the Gulf if it takes a contrary position,” one source said, citing the message delivered by the presidency. The same approach had been used last year, as reported by MEE , to force Al-Azhar to withdraw a statement urging global action on famine in Gaza. Then the state threatened to blame the institution for derailing a ceasefire and blocking the entry of aid, the sources said. Gulf officials had visited Tayeb and detailed the damage their countries had sustained, assessments which the sources said had been “greatly exaggerated”. The four statements issued by Al-Azhar are as follows: Al-Azhar issued its first statement on 2 March, calling for an immediate halt to the war, an end to further bloodshed and rejecting violations of Arab states’ sovereignty. It did not name Iran. A second statement on 17 March condemned what it called Iran’s “unjustified attacks” on the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as on Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Azerbaijan. A third , on 9 April, warned against “the occupying entity” - Al-Azhar’s customary term for Israel - for what it described as attempts to inflame the region and breach the current truce, saying the absence of legal accountability had emboldened the occupier to commit further crimes. It did not address strikes on Iranian territory. The fourth , on 5 May, condemned “the aggression of the Islamic Republic of Iran against its Muslim neighbour, the UAE”. Sources close to the Egyptian presidency said Al-Azhar formed part of the state apparatus and that unifying its position was a necessity tied to national interests with the Gulf. Gulf states were watching Al-Azhar closely and had raised the matter directly in talks during the war, they said. The close personal ties between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Emirati counterpart, alongside Egypt’s economic interests in Abu Dhabi, made it essential for Al-Azhar to issue a statement specifically condemning the Iranian strikes, the sources said. Exclusive: Egypt presidency forced Al-Azhar to delete statement condemning Israel's starvation of Gaza Read More » MEE could not independently verify the accounts. Al-Azhar and the offices of the Egyptian and UAE presidents did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Previous pressure from the Egyptian state and Gulf governments, the UAE chief among them, had failed to shift Al-Azhar’s position on Palestinian armed factions or its expressions of support for them, the sources said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called Tayeb directly to argue that Al-Azhar’s stance served the interests of political organisations that fell outside the legitimate Palestinian decision-making framework. That was a characterisation the grand imam rejected during the call, the sources said. Abbas subsequently complained about Tayeb to Sisi. MEE asked the Palestinian Authority for comment but has not received a response. A 2019 constitutional crisis Sources close to Tayeb dismissed suggestions that UAE mediation during a 2019 dispute had any bearing on Al-Azhar’s current alignment. An Egyptian news outlet reported at the time that Sisi was moving to unseat the grand imam by amending the constitutional articles governing Al-Azhar, and that mediation by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan resolved the crisis, preserving the constitutional articles in exchange for the removal of two figures close to Tayeb. The Al-Azhar sources, however, told MEE that Abu Dhabi’s role had been overstated. Egypt: The politics of reforming al-Azhar Read More » The UAE had not objected to Tayeb’s removal in principle, but was dissatisfied with the proposed successors, who it judged did not match his stature in countering extremism and projecting a moderate image of Islam, a field in which the two sides had been cooperating extensively at the time. Cooperation slowed sharply after Abu Dhabi normalised relations with Israel under the 2020 normalisation deal known as the Abraham Accords, and was now confined to specific files and conditional on keeping Al-Azhar away from any matter involving Israel, they added. Real support during the 2019 crisis had come from certain Egyptian state agencies, the sources said. Those agencies leaked news of the planned move at the moment Tayeb was signing the Document on Human Fraternity with Pope Francis, a timing that would have suggested he was being punished for his openness. Demonstrations followed in Luxor, Tayeb’s birthplace and the home of his family, where his image was raised by protesters. Objections from Southeast Asian countries, combined with messages Sisi received from African heads of state during a continental tour, led the Egyptian president to conclude that aides hostile to Tayeb had misled him, the sources said. Relations recovered after those advisers were removed, they added. 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