ABSTRACT
The historical links between Egypt and the rest of the African continent go back thousands of years. Pharaonic Egypt had strong relations with both the heart and the periphery of the continent. In modern times, Khedive Ismail established an Egyptian empire that extended as far south as Equatorial Africa, and as far east as the shores of the Red Sea down to Somalia. 1 Al-Azhar always enjoyed great prestige in the eyes of African Muslims.
