Giuseppe Cecere
University of Bologna and the Hebrew University
“The Tariqa 'Azamiyya and al-Islām Waṭan:
An Egyptian Sufi Perspective on Sunni-Shiʿa Relationships"
Shaykh ‘Alā’ al-Dīn Abū l-‘Azā’im, the Head of the Ṭarīqa ‘Azamiyya Shādhiliyya, is one of the
most famous and controversial Egyptian Sufis nowadays.
Before the Revolution of 2011, he had made himself well-known for his calls for reforming the
Supreme Council of Sufi Orders, and even more for his relentless efforts in promoting dialogue
with Iran, in the framework of an hoped-for “pan-Islamic” turn in Egypt’s foreign policy. Such
an attitude to foster political cooperation among Muslims across the Shī‘a-Sunnī divide is also
well expressed by the very name of the ʿAzamiyya’s periodical, later adopted also for their
website: al-Islām waṭan (www.islamwattan.com). At odds with the anti-Shīʿa feelings
widespread in the Egyptian public opinion, Abū l-‘Azā’im has constantly depicted Iran,
sometimes along with Qadhāfī’s Libya or with Erdogan’s Turkey, as a key actor for building a
“united front” of all Muslim countries worldwide, aiming first of all at destroying the alleged
“common enemy” Israel.
In the wake of 2011 Revolution, Shaykh Abū l-‘Azā’im has taken an even more active political
stance, presenting himself as an adversary of both the past Mubārak regime and the Muslim
Brothers and Salafi trends. Among other things, he has been the first Shaykh of an officially
recognized ṭarīqa to promote the formation of a Sufi political party: Ḥizb al-Taḥrīr al-Miṣrī
(“The Egyptian Liberation Party”) whose birth was announced as early as April, 5th, 2011.
Indeed, the Egyptian Liberation Party proved to have no great appeal, until now, beyond the
followers of the Ṭarīqa ʿAzamiyya itself. Nevertheless, such a direct intervention of a Sufi
group in the political arena has attracted a considerable amount of attention in the media and
the public opinion, thus offering the Shaykh (although he is not the official leader of the party)
greater opportunities to spread his views. His popularity seems to be specially increasing
after the Second Egyptian Revolution, probably because of his fierce opposition to the Muslim
Brotherhood during Muhammad Mursī’s presidency.
The Shaykh of the Ṭarīqa ʿAzamiyya appears, therefore, to be quite an influential figure in
political and religious life of present Egypt. This makes his discourse a most interesting object
of investigation, especially with reference to the Shayk’s possible impact on the evolutions of
Egyptian public opinion attitudes towards the Shiʿa-Sunnī relationships. In justifying his proIran stance, in fact, Abū l-ʿAzā’im does not simply rely on most virulent and traditional antiJewish stereotypes, including an obsession for alleged “Zionist complots” all over the world
that only a Muslim common front could counter. Indeed, he is also proposing some religious
motivations for Sunnī-Shīʿī cooperation, in the logic of taqrīb al madhāhib (“making the
different ‘schools’ of Islamic Law getting closer”).
For these reasons, The present communication will mainly focus on how Shaykh Abū l‘Azā’im’s deals with both Iran and Shīʿa, in the framework of his broader political and religious
discourse. In particular, we shall try to inquiry whether Abū l-‘Azā’im’s attitudes towards Iran
are mainly stemming from Realpolitik considerations or from an actually innovative
perspective on Shīʿa-Sunnī relationships.