Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb has ordered an urgent investigation into allegations related to unspecified sexual harassment within Al-Azhar University.
University head Osama al-Abd has been tasked with investigating accusations made in an article by former MP Mostafa al-Naggar published in Al-Masry Al-Youm on Monday and titled “Harassment at Al-Azhar University.”
Naggar wrote that a professor who supervises thesis-writing within the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Alexandria has asked female students to “come to his house under the pretext of reading him what they wrote in their theses, since he is blind, and has no one to do it for him.”
The professor, Naggar alleges, “takes them alone, away from the eyes of his family, in a separate office, touches their bodies and asks them things that are too outrageous to be told.”
Naggar claims a senior Al-Azhar female scholar who studied in the same department said she was aware of the incident and tried to take action but was given no assistance.
In response to the piece, Al-Azhar announced it was starting an investigation and was keen on protecting the safety and security of students.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
