Sisi appoints Nazir Ayyad as Egypt's new grand mufti

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has appointed Nazir Mohammed Ayyad as Egypt's new grand mufti, the Al-Azhar Sheikhdom announced on Sunday.

The statement said Ayyad, who previously served as the head of Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy, was appointed on the recommendation of Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayyeb.

Former Grand Mufti Shawki Allam's tenure recently came to an end, having been appointed in 2013 but his term was renewed by President Sisi in 2017.

Ayyad comes to the role with a background as a professor of creed and philosophy and vice dean of the Islamic and Arabic Studies for Girls faculty in Kafr El-Sheikh.

He is also a member of the World Association for Al-Azhar Graduates, the youth ministry's Environment Protection and Addiction Control Team, and the Egyptian Family House, an organisation that seeks to promote cohesion and coexistence between Egypt's major faith groups.

As grand mufti, Ayyad will head Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta, a body responsible for issuing religious opinions and edicts. 

Established in 1895 as a religious body administratively and financially independent of the government, the Dar al-Ifta has increasingly become entwined with the politics of Egypt and the government.

Following Egypt's 2013 military coup and installment of former military head Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as president, the office of grand mufti, under Allam, issued various fatwas supporting the new regime and its crackdown on opponents.

Prior to the June 2013 coup, Allam gave support for demonstrations against Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and later described the army takeover as a "prophetic miracle".

Allam has also bolstered the Sisi regime's anti-Muslim Brotherhood stance, describing the now-proscribed organisation as a "terrorist" group. Under Sisi's presidency, tens of thousands of Brotherhood members and leaders were jailed or sentenced to death.

The office of grand mufti is also closely related to the issuing of death sentences, with the mufti required to ratify executions.

Allam has approved hundreds of death sentences since taking office in 2013, according to Amnesty International.

Allam's predecessor, Ali Gomaa, has also been a staunch supporter of President Sisi, backing the government's overthrow of Morsi and the subsequent crackdown on dissent.