In May 2014, Al-Abd announced that Al-Azhar University punished 1,301 students for their participation in anti-coup protests of which 131 were expelled outright from the university, 150 expelled from their dormitories, and 750 were referred to disciplinary boards. Al-Abd stated that primary goal of the university protests was to disrupt studying and denied siding with Egyptian government headed by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Al-Abd also stated the Muslim Brotherhood was an exclusionary group hostile to the sheikh of Al Azhar University, Ahmed el-Tayeb, and solely dedicated to returning to power in Egypt without consideration for dissent. Although some Brotherhood members were on the Al-Azhar University faculty, Al-Abd maintains the university will continue to adhere to "moderate and enlightened ideas and always rejects extremist ideas.”