On June 20, Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayeb presented what has been dubbed “The Al-Azhar Document,” an 11-point program addressing many of the issues Egypt has faced since the January revolution. Based on a broad consensus of the eminent Islamic institution’s religious figures, the document advocates “a modern democratic state based on a constitution” which would guarantee citizens’ equal rights and the separation of powers. Al-Tayeb frames democracy as “the modern formula for the Islamic precept of shura (consultation),” which he explains as the true guarantor of pluralism and accountability to the people.

The resulting blueprint sketches out post-revolutionary priorities: reforming education and anti-corruption efforts, reducing unemployment and maintaining international treaties. The document also presses for independence of Al-Azhar from state control. Most important is the document’s treatment of the relationship between religion and the state; it supports “the people’s representatives endowed with the power of legislation in accordance with the precepts of true Islam – a religion which has never throughout its history experienced a religious or a theocratic state.”

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