African Languages Department
In the process of Egyptian openness to Africa, Al-Azhar inaugurated the African Languages department in 1967 to teach the most prevailing languages in Africa, that is, Swahili, and Amharic in East-Africa, and Hausa and Fulfulde in West-Africa, this activity lasted until now in 2017. The aim was to acquire knowledge of the literatures and cultures of the African Peoples, and to introduce moderate Islam to them with the aim of correcting the misconceptions about Islam that defame the Islamic Culture and lead to radicalism.
The dept. held an academic conference on "African Affairs" in 2016 entitled "Africa and communication of civilizations". The main axes focused on :History, Civilization, Literature, and Languages.
A good number of ambassadors, Egyptian and African researchers, those who are concerned with African affairs from the Egyptian and African universities, graduates who work in the media have participated in the conference. In cooperation with UNESCO, Arab League, ISESCO, European Union, and Ministry of Higher Education, some members of staff of the department participated in organizing two conferences in 2004 and 2006 on "The image of the Arab-Islamic Culture in the European textbooks of History", and contributed a good number of researches to them.
Members of Staff of the Dept. have also participated with researches in many conferences relating to African Affairs inside and outside Egypt, among them are: