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Al-Azhar sheikh labels polygamy as unjust, stirs controversy

Egypt’s grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, provoked controversy in Egypt by saying that polygamy can do “injustice to women and children.”
Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb leaves Al Rawdah mosque during the first Friday prayer after the attack in Bir Al-Abed, Egypt, December 1, 2017. Picture taken December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - RC170C5C7C20
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CAIRO — Egypt’s grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, has been under fire recently over his comments on polygamy.

“In 90% of cases — and I am not exaggerating — polygamy involves injustice toward the wife, her family and her children,” Tayeb said March 1 during his weekly televised interview broadcast on Channel 1 TV. Al-Azhar’s Twitter account also posted Tayeb’s statements from the interview.

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