Al-Azhar rejects US legislation that created a special envoy for Middle East minority affairs, it said on Tuesday.
In a statement, Mahmoud Azab, an adviser to Al-Azhar's grand sheikh, said such decisions are "smugly arrogant and reflect a desire to impose guardianship on civilized old nations."
The US House of Representatives approved the bill on Monday. The envoy would defend religious minorities' rights in several parts of the world, including Arab countries and Central Asia.
Azab said this reflected a "oppressive, barbaric power,” and said the law violates human rights and the principle of equality between nations.
He also described the bill as a form of "state terrorism" that violates international customs and traditions.
Nations in the East, and Egypt in particular, have not seen any religious or sectarian wars like those which broke out in the West, Azab said.
