 Hosni Mubarak succeeded Sadat as President of Egypt following Sadat 's assassination in 1981 . While al @-@ Azhar would continue to oblige the government in granting a religious legitimacy to its dictates , the mosque and its clergy were given more autonomy under Mubarak 's regime . Under Jad al @-@ Haq , the sheikh of al @-@ Azhar from 1982 until his death in 1994 , al @-@ Azhar asserted its independence from the state , at times criticizing policies of the state for instigating extremist Islamist sects . Al @-@ Haq argued that if the government wished al @-@ Azhar to effectively combat groups such as al @-@ Gama 'a al @-@ Islamiyya then al @-@ Azhar must be permitted greater independence from the state and for it to be allowed to make religious declarations without interference . Under Mubarak , a number of powers of the state were ceded to al @-@ Azhar . During the 1990s , modifications to existing censorship laws gave al @-@ Azhar the ability to censor both print and electronic media . Though the law stipulates that al @-@ Azhar may only become involved following a complaint , in practice its role has been much more pervasive ; for example , television scripts were routinely sent to al @-@ Azhar for approval prior to airing . 
