Al-Azhar, Egypt's leading Sunni Islam authority, has urged the Muslim Brotherhood to renounce violence as protesters continue to engage in bloody clashes with local residents and security forces following the dispersals of two sit-ins last week.
Nearly 800 were killed during the dispersals and subsequent violence across the country.
On Saturday, Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb, urged the Brotherhood to avoid bloodshed and to protect their country.
In a recorded message aired on state TV, Tayyeb said: "Scenes of violence will not win rights for anybody. Legitimacy cannot be acquired through bloodshed.”
"There is still a chance and a hope for many of you who have not been involved in instigating violence," he added, addressing Brotherhood supporters.
“Come to the protection of Egypt, the country where you were born and brought up, hurry to protect your country from sliding into a blind sedition that could set the nation on fire," Tayyeb warned.
Tayyeb stressed that al-Azhar still resists attempts to "polarize" and "influence" religious scholars by parties in the Egyptian crisis.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
