In hi interview with Vatican Radio, Al Tayyeb said he was happy to be the first Imam of al Azhar to come to the Vatican and meet with the Pope in "an encounter of discussion and understanding."
His first impression of Pope Francis which he said was "very strong," was that this is "a man of peace, a man who follows the teaching of Christianity, which is a religion of love and peace."
In following the words and actions of the Pope, "we have seen that he is a man who respects other religions and shows consideration for their followers; he is man who also consecrates his life to serve the poor and the destitute, and who takes responsibility for people in general," he said.
Al Tayyeb also spoke of the importance of role of religious leaders amid modern social ideologies which have failed to both failed make man happy or dissuade him from war and bloodshed. He also outlined a special project at the renown al Azhar University aimed at renewing scholastic texts.
He said the texts are renewed in the sense that "we clarify the Muslim concepts that have been deviated by those who use violence and terrorism, and by armed movements that claim to work for peace."
"We have identified these erroneous concepts," and have included them as part of their high school and middle school curriculum, he said.
In addition to showing the deviant perspective of Islam, the university seeks to help their students understand the true concepts from which terrorists and extremists have deviated.
Additionally, the imam explained that the university has established a world observatory which monitors the materials distributed by extremis movements in eight languages, in order to track the "distorted ideas" that deviate youth from true Islam. The material is then corrected and translated into other languages, he said.
Al Tayyeb highlighted other efforts being made in this regard at the university before concluding with an expression of appreciation for his meeting with the Pope, as well as his hope for the future of dialogue between Islam and Christianity.
He voiced his hope that Muslims and Christians, specifically Al-Azhar and the Vatican, would be able to "relieve human beings wherever they are, regardless of their religion and belief, and to save them from destructive wars, poverty, ignorance and disease."
The full text of Vatican Radio's interview with Grand Imam Ahmed al Tayyeb can be found here: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/24/grand_imam_religions_must_work_together_for_peace/1232088
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Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.