Mohammad Ghanim the Head of Shia Council of Egypt said Shia Muslims form a large section of the society in that country. He stressed that Al-Azhar teaches Ja’afari faith along with other faiths. Ghanim added that he is determined to meet the Media Advisor of the interim President of Egypt in the next few days and convey to him the demands of Shia Muslims such as permission for teaching the Shia faith and allocating parliamentary seats for Shia community.

At the same time the Head of Salafi coalition asked Egyptians to reject adding Ja’afari faith to the new constitution in the forthcoming referendum. Following Ghanim’s speech the Salafi party protested against his demands and asked the citizens to protest against them. The Salafi party in its explanation of rejecting Shia faith as one of the Islamic faiths announced that Shia faith is not Islamic. The Head of Shia Council of Egypt confirmed that if we receive negative response to our demands we will appeal to human rights organisations inside and outside the country.

Source: Shafaqna