Was Egypt's Sheikh Tantawi a liberal or a stooge?

Some people saw Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi as a government stooge

By Roger Hardy BBC Middle East analyst

For some, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, was a bravely outspoken liberal; for others, a mouthpiece of the Egyptian state.

Sheikh Tantawi, who has died of a heart attack at the age of 81 while on a trip to Saudi Arabia, was not afraid of controversy.

Sheikh Tantawi never shied away from controversy

Since his appointment in 1996 as head of al-Azhar - Egypt's 1,000-year-old mosque and university - he sparked almost constant debate because of his outspoken views.

He denounced female genital mutilation and said women should be appointed to top government jobs.

He said it was legitimate for banks to pay interest - something many clerics argue the Koran forbids.

Last year he banned the full face veil from al-Azhar's girls' schools.

He supported the right of France to outlaw the wearing of headscarves in its state schools.

He once shook the hand of the Israeli President, Shimon Peres.

Many Muslims believed that, on all these issues, he was simply doing the bidding of the man who'd given him his job, President Hosni Mubarak.

Who speaks for Islam?

Islam has no Pope and no Vatican.

Nevertheless, for its majority - Sunni - branch, al-Azhar (which literally means "the brilliant") is an important and revered centre of learning and authority.

AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY Built by Gawhar al-Siqilli after he conquered Egypt in AD969 Thought to be dedicated to Fatima, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter who was known as al-Zahra For more than 900 years students learned Arabic, the Koran and Sharia law from imams in the mosque Adopted a "Westernised" university system of faculties and lectures, dividing the mosque and university in 1930 Gamal Abdel Nasser forced further reform through in 1961 Source: Oxford Islamic Studies Website

When its head issues a fatwa, or ruling, millions of Sunni Muslims around the world take heed.

Founded in Cairo in AD970, al-Azhar became the pre-eminent institution for the study of the Koran and the Arabic language.

It also acquired a reputation for conservatism.

Muslim reformers such as Mohammed Abduh, who became its head in 1899, found its atmosphere stultifying - and al-Azhar scholars vigorously opposed his progressive views.

There has long been a certain tension between al-Azhar and the Egyptian state.

This came to a head in the early 1960s when it was effectively nationalised by Egypt's President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

Viewing religion as a potential threat to his rule, Nasser wanted to bring this important institution under the state's control.

Many believed this fatally compromised its authority.

The individual who ran the institution might, more or less, have credibility, but there was always the suspicion that, in the last resort, he was a state functionary.

Since the Islamic revival of the 1970s, the issue of authority has become more urgent and more vexed.

A tussle has been under way between moderates like Sheikh Tantawi and more radical figures ranging from the popular tele-evangelist Yusuf al-Qaradawi to the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Each wants to speak for Islam and so sway the Muslim masses.

This will not make it any easier for President Mubarak to choose Mohammed Tantawi's successor.

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