A delegation of Nour Party members led by Party Chief Younis Makhyoun visited Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb to discuss issues related to the amendment of the Constitution and what the party described as attempts by some to remove articles concerning the state's identity from the Constitution.
Party spokesman Sherif Taha said the Nour party formed a delegation led by the party chief to meet with al-Tayyeb and exchange opinions on the political situation and proposed constitutional amendments.
He said that the delegation told Tayyeb that the party opposes the cancellation of Article 219 containing the phrase “principles of Islamic Sharia” if the word “principles” is kept in the phrasing of Article 2 of the Constitution. He also said that the delegation expressed its opposition to the removal of a portion in Article 4 calling for the soliciation of the Council of Senior Scholars' opinion on matters related to Islamic Sharia.
Taha also said the party fears that replacing Christians and Jews with "non-Muslims" in Article 3–which gives Christians and Jews the right to be governed by their creeds with regards to personal affairs–will open the door to followers of non-Abrahamic religions to exercise their rituals freely.
Galal Morra, secretary general of Nour Party, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the meeting with Tayyeb tackled several additional issues, the most important of which was national reconciliation and consensus on constitutional amendments.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
