 Al @-@ Azhar was not unaffected by the 2011 Egyptian revolution that saw the removal of Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt . Student government elections in the months following the revolution resulted in an overwhelming victory for the once banned Muslim Brotherhood . Protests demanding that the military junta ruling Egypt restore the mosque 's independence from the state broke out , and the mosque itself commissioned the writing of a draft law that would grant al @-@ Azhar greater independence from the government . Within al @-@ Azhar , debate on its future and rightful role within the state has replaced what had been a mollified single @-@ voice in support of the policies of the Mubarak regime . The various views on al @-@ Azhar 's future role in Egypt come from several parties , including leading Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood , liberal voices that wish to see al @-@ Azhar stand as a bulwark against ultra @-@ conservative Islamists ( known as Salafists ) , and those that hope to see al @-@ Azhar become wholly independent from the state and in complete control of its finances , leadership , and further that it be placed in charge of the religious ministries of the state . 
