Public Image
Tantawi, who died at the age of 81, was a moderate, sometimes progressive voice at the apex of Islamic scholarship during a period when such measured tones tended to be drowned out on the international scene by his more militant rivals. Ebrahim Moosa, an associate professor of Islamic studies at Duke University stated: "Tantawi was not only pro-Western, he was often pro-authority and did his best to satisfy such authority, even if it meant that he had to cut corners with the body of ethical and moral rulings in Islamic teachings"..."His fatwas were not often carefully argued and scripted. lacked a granular discussion of complex and controversial issues, and often he would cherry-pick from the tradition without proper justification."
Read more about this topic: Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy
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