AP | Jan 11,2012 Source: Jordan Times

CAIRO — The head of Al Azhar, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, put forward a Bill of Rights on Tuesday upholding freedom of expression and belief ahead of the drafting of Egypt’s new constitution.

The bill, which was in the works for three months, is a bid by Al Azhar to assert its role as the voice of moderate Islam in the face of growing political power of more conservative Islamic groups in Egypt following the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

The conservative Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most organised political force, and the more radical ultraconservative Salafis, have won a majority in the country’s first elected post-Mubarak parliament. Both call for an Islamic basis for the state, raising worries among Egypt’s liberal and Christian groups that conservative religious teachings will dictate the shape of the new constitution. In theory, parliament is to be in charge of nominating who will draft the document.

The Al Azhar document appeared aimed at establishing a religious backing for preserving broader rights that liberals and Christians fear conservatives will try to limit.

Al Azhar's Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb

He said that Islamic rulings protect freedom of religion and guarantee equal citizenship rights, in a message to Egypt’s increasingly nervous Christian minorities.

Hassan Al Shafei, a senior Al Azhar official, said the document has been passed on to authorities to be considered in writing the constitution. The document has been drafted in the last three months in consultation with Islamic and Christian thinkers, Shafei said.

Read more here: http://jordantimes.com/al-azhar-sheikh-proposes-bill-of-rights-for-egypt