Egypt’s highest-ranking Muslim official, the Grand Mufti Dr Ali Goma, will be speaking at the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge this evening.

Egypt’s highest-ranking Muslim official, the Grand Mufti Dr Ali Goma, will be speaking at the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge this evening.

Dr Goma is visiting Cambridge to explore possible future relationships between Christian and Muslim scholars, with a view to encouraging better understanding between the two different religious traditions.

It coincides with the establishment of a successful exchange programme between the University of Cambridge and Al Azhar University, one of Egypt's premier institutions of higher learning. Now in its second year, the programme allows theological students to spend a term at the other university.

Dr Goma's visit is being hosted by the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme, based at the University's Faculty of Divinity, and the Cambridge Theological Foundation.

The Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme is currently developing a teaching and research programme exploring Islam, Christianity and Judaism, examining both their similarities and differences. In the long-term, it aims to develop relationships between Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars that will allow them to contribute constructively to encouraging greater peace and understanding between different faiths as their careers develop.

David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, said: "Education and better understanding is the most sure way to lasting and fruitful relationships between the world's three great monotheistic traditions.

"The joint visit of one of the world's most senior Muslim clerics and the Anglican Communion's representative in Egypt is a sign of the trust and friendship that can be fostered through dialogue and understanding. Few things are more important for the coming century than that Muslims, Christians and Jews understand each other, and draw on the riches of their traditions to live in peace with each other."


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