Hundreds of students at Egypt's al-Azhar university broke into the offices of the country's top Muslim cleric of the al-Azhar mosque.

BBC: Egypt students storm office of top al-Azhar cleric

The attack happened at about 1700 (1500 GMT) on Thursday, close to al-Azhar mosque, which is a major seat of Islamic learning.

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The university belongs to the al-Azhar mosque, one of the main centres of Sunni Muslim learning, which also awards degrees in sciences and humanities.

BBC: Egypt students storm office of top al-Azhar cleric

For centuries, the Abou El Fadl family included jurists who studied in the schools affiliated with Cairo's Al Azhar mosque, the venerable epicenter of Sunni Islamic thinking--Islam's Oxbridge.

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Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi Azhar gave the opening prayer at Cairo's al-Jalaal mosque, starting the official funeral ceremony.

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