Egypt's Presidential Adviser: Terrorist groups have killed the sense of belonging

Cairo- Presidential adviser for religious affairs, Dr. Usama El Azhary participated in the cultural convoy titled “For the Love of the Homeland”, organized by the Supreme Council of Culture at the Beni Suef culture center.  The event was held under the patronage of Helmy El Namnam, Minister of Culture.  

In his speech during the opening ceremony of “For the Love of the Homeland”, El Azhary said, “This culture gathering aims to emphasize our love and sense of belonging to the homeland.” He added that values as being loyal, loving and faithful to the homeland have been shaken to the core during the past 70 years.  This has been deliberately done by radical thinkers who misconstrue the teachings of our religion. They describe the homeland as only a handful of dust and at other times they describe it as merely a border created by the occupation. 

El Azhary continued, “Early Arabs used to say that the nobility of a person is measured by his loyalty to this country. The more loyal someone is to the country, the more religious he is.  When this value is shaken, the person becomes the enemy of his country and strays away from God Almighty. 

The love of our country is the slogan we live by. This is why we have chosen to come to Beni Seuf, the heart of Egypt, and from here we will spread the message to all parts of Egypt from north to south and from east to west.” 

Several intellectual and cultural figures participated in the convoy among which were: Gamal El Shaer, Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Professor of Sociology, singer Iman El Bahr Darwish, Dr. Gamal Zahran, Professor of Political Science as well as  Counselor Khaled El Kadi, Head of the Court of Appeals.