Al-Azhar works to end blood feuds in Egypt
Egypt's top religious institution Al-Azhar is stepping up efforts to stop traditionally long-lasting feuds via local councils and reaching out to the new generation to end the practice.
CAIRO — Egypt will step up efforts to battle blood feuds and vendettas — a remnant of tribal traditions — through a series of awareness campaigns around the country, especially in the villages and rural areas of Upper Egypt.
Last month, Al-Azhar’s Higher Committee for Blood Feud Reconciliation called on the Islamic Research Complex, a powerful institution whose mission extends from conducting studies on Islamic culture to reviewing publications for their adherence to Islamic principles, to come up with a large-scale awareness program.
Al-Azhar, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islamic learning, is already involved in local efforts to end vendettas, but this is by far the largest national effort to stop this type of crime. A common saying in Upper Egypt goes, “Vendetta is better than shame,” meaning that a family that does not observe a blood feud loses its honor, so it is not easy to persuade families to end them. Even if a killer is sentenced for his crime in court, the family of the victim will seek vengeance by killing a member of the murderer’s family. Though blood feuds and vendettas often make the local and international press, there is little official data on them.
One of the existing methods to end blood feuds is through committees made up of local politicians and elders — also known as customary reconciliation courts — in Egyptian villages and towns. These committees work with the families to bring an end to vendettas that often drag on for years and cause many deaths on all sides, mostly by paying “blood money” to the family of the victim. Scholars of Al-Azhar also attend the meetings, but they now want to step up their presence and influence.
