Al-Azhar Reacts to Criticism over Kids’ Quran Memorization
In a statement on Sunday, Al-Azhar Center for Electronic Fatwa said that taking care of children and growing them according to an accurate understanding of the Quran is a pillar for society's stability.
“Raising our children to understand the Book of God, memorize it, learn it, and manage its meanings is a good aid to their good upbringing, preservation of their nature, and the purity of their humanity, providing them with a moderate and enlightened understanding of the Quran,” it said in a Facebook post, according to Elbalad.
“In addition, the Holy Qur’an is the pure helper of our Arabic language, its grammar, its pronunciations, its innovations and its improvements,” it added.
The statement came after Egyptian critic Salwa Bakr criticized extensive programs for the memorization of the Quran for children in Egypt, claiming that these courses deprive kids of their childhood. The remarks sparked reactions on the social media in Egypt as some activists and experts rejected her claims as an “exaggeration”.
Students who attend Quranic courses, continued Al-Azhar, draw on their knowledge, think, and refine their skills and faculties with words and expressions.
The call to keep young people away from the Noble Quran and its lofty teachings is an explicit call to distance them from their religion, their values, and cut them off from their language and culture, and identity, as it opens the door to destructive ideas and interpretations, added the statement.
The Quran has established the principles of freedom and respect for religions and it has called for human fraternity and equality without discrimination on the basis of religion, color, race, and language, read the statement.
There is no doubt that a correct and disciplined understanding of this sacred text is the most important approach to peaceful coexistence, acceptance of others, and a good supporter of society's security and stability, and the integrity of its values and ideas, it concluded.
