Matt 24 watch, 255 : Egypt's President Al-Sisi calls for reformation of Islam, at the leading Islamic University Al-Azhar (which is in Egypt)

MEMRI has thoughtfully clipped and subtitled a challenge issued to Al Azhar University by Egypt's president Al Sisi:




Newsmax summarises key points:

In a bold yet little-reported speech, The President of Egypt has directly confronted Islamic leaders in his country and challenged them to stand against extremism in their religion.
"We are in need of a religious revolution," President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi told imams on New Years Day at al-Azhar University in Cairo. The speech commemorated the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
"You, imams, are responsible before Allah," el-Sisi said. "The entire world … is waiting for your next move … because [the Islamic world] is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost — and it is being lost by our own hands." . . . . 

"We have to think hard about what we are facing," he said. "It’s inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire [Islamic world] to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world. Impossible!
"Is it possible that 1.6 billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world’s inhabitants — that is 7 billion — so that they themselves may live? Impossible!
"You cannot feel it if you remain trapped within this mindset," el-Sisi said. "You need to step outside of yourselves to be able to observe it and reflect on it from a more enlightened perspective.”

 That is both sobering and refreshing. But, obviously Al Sisi is putting his life on the line to speak out like this.

And, we need to ask ourselves just why it is, we have not had this speech headlined as focal world news. 

For, surely, this is a pivotal statement. END

PS: And, it is time for us to be thinking about the true religious revolution -- the good news of Jesus:

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel from Slaves4Christ on Vimeo.