Al-Azhar condemns stabbing of Muslim man in Utah, warns of ‘white terrorism’

CAIRO – 16 July 2026: Al-Azhar strongly condemned the stabbing of a Muslim man in Utah, USA, calling it a heinous crime motivated by religious hatred. The institution emphasized that the attack represents a dangerous manifestation of escalating white supremacist terrorism targeting Islam and Muslims.

Al-Azhar pointed out that such terrorism is fueled by unjustified, Islamophobic hate speech, reflecting a troubling decline in human values and ethics.

The institution warned against the rise of these abhorrent hate crimes. It stressed that continued incitement against Islam, the promotion of distorted stereotypes, and the failure to confront hate speech create fertile ground for violence, ultimately threatening social peace and coexistence worldwide.

Al-Azhar Al-Sharif emphasized that confronting white terrorism, tackling the root causes of Islamophobia, and addressing all forms of racism and hatred is a shared international responsibility that cannot tolerate double standards. The institution called for the strict application of the law against perpetrators of hate crimes without discrimination, the implementation of effective measures to protect Muslim communities from repeated attacks, and the promotion of mutual respect for all.