Al-Azhar and culture facing the challenges of the times – Something for the homeland – ✍️ Eng. Salah Ghariba
The meeting between the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Minister of Culture represents a very important turning point in the contemporary Arab cultural scene. This meeting highlighted the magnitude of the challenges facing our Arab societies and underlined the urgent need for concerted efforts to address these challenges and protect our cultural identity.
The Sheikh of Al-Azhar clearly highlighted the imminent danger posed by the strange cultural and artistic patterns that have invaded our Arab societies, aimed at excluding authentic culture and undermining our values and traditions. These patterns, which often have a consumerist connotation, seek to isolate young people from their identity and make them vulnerable to negative influences and extremist ideas. This dangerous trend threatens not only the future of our future generations, but also the social fabric and unity of our societies.
Culture is the foundation on which societies are built, shaping their identity and determining the path of their development. Through culture, we pass on our values and heritage to future generations, and build a strong national identity. Culture is also what protects society from extremism and wrong ideologies, and helps build a cohesive and tolerant society. Culture is what shapes our consciousness and guides our behavior, and it is what connects us to each other and to our past, present and future.
The cultural crisis that our Arab societies are suffering from has multiple and intertwined dimensions. This is manifested in the decline of reading, the spread of violence in the media, the spread of the phenomenon of dual identity, and the decline in the role of the family and religious institutions in the education of generations. Together, these dimensions lead to the erosion of national identity and weaken the immunity of society to external challenges.
To address this crisis, we must take a set of urgent and comprehensive measures. One of the most important measures is to support local cultural production. We must work to support creators, thinkers, and writers and create a suitable climate for distinguished cultural production. This requires providing material and moral support to creators, facilitating the process of publishing and dissemination, and organizing various cultural events, in addition to strengthening the role of cultural institutions by working to develop the role of cultural institutions, such as libraries, museums, cultural clubs, and forums, and transforming them into vital centers of creativity and knowledge. This requires providing the necessary funding to these institutions, updating their programs, and expanding the scope of their services to include different segments of society.
We must integrate culture into school curricula and work to raise awareness among young people about the importance of cultural heritage. This requires training teachers in teaching methods that encourage critical thinking and creativity, providing the necessary educational resources, working to address the negative effects of digital culture, and promoting positive and constructive content. This requires developing policies to regulate the digital space, encouraging the production of authentic Arabic content, raising awareness about the dangers of social media addiction, working to strengthen dialogue between religions and cultures, and building bridges of communication between peoples. This requires organizing conferences, seminars, and dialogues between representatives of different religions and cultures, as well as exchanging cultural visits.
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, as an ancient religious and scientific institution, plays a central role in addressing the cultural challenges facing our societies. Al-Azhar is able to present a tolerant and modern Islamic vision that contributes to building balanced and tolerant societies. Al-Azhar also plays a major role in raising cultural and religious awareness and correcting misconceptions.
The cultural battle we are waging is an existential battle and it requires concerted efforts and hard work from all of us. We must draw inspiration from the words of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and work together to build a strong and cohesive society that preserves its identity and heritage and faces the challenges it faces with confidence and determination.
