[8] In 1989 the Egyptian government's support for Western-style, interest-based banks (long considered anathema by Muslim scholars as usury, or riba) was under siege by the expanding Islamic finance movement.

Despite years of friendship with Tantawy, well-known Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi has sharply criticized his position on interest.

[17] In 2003 he called suicide bombers "enemies of Islam", adding "people of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity.

[19] Tantawy opposed women as Imams in mixed congregations during Friday prayers (Jumu'ah), saying when "A woman's body is private.

[22] In 2001 he issued a fatwa banning women from acting as surrogate mothers or from receiving frozen sperm from dead husbands.

"[25] He said that Osama bin Laden's call for a Jihad against the west was "invalid and not binding on Muslims", adding "Killing innocent civilians is a horrific, hideous act that no religion can approve".

[26] In October 2009, Tantawy launched a campaign against the niqab (the full-face veil which covers the entire body except for the eyes, increasingly worn by women in Egypt) by personally removing the niqab of a teenage girl (after she failed to remove it) at a secondary school affiliated to Al-Azhar University, which he was touring in Cairo's Madinet Nasr suburb, much to the shock of all concerned.

"[29] Tantawi also denied that the Western Wall had any Jewish significance and anachronistically claimed, "All of the figures from the [Hebrew] Bible were Muslims.

The statement summary is translated: "It is permissible to perform the operation in order to reveal what was hidden of male or female organs.

[32] Tantawy died on the morning of 10 March 2010, at the age of 81, as result of a heart attack during a visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

[33] Tantawy died as he was about to board his return flight to Egypt at Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport.

[38] Egyptian authorities stated that, at his family's request, he would be buried in Medina in Saudi Arabia, which is also the burial place of Mohammed.

[39] Tantawy's deputy, Mohamed Wasel, took over his duties until then President Mubarak appointed a replacement,[38] Ahmad at-Tayyeb, as the new rector of Al Azhar.

[42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Tantawy, who died at the age of 81, was a moderate, sometimes progressive voice at the apex of Islamic scholarship during a period when such measured tones tended to be drowned out on the international scene by his more militant rivals.