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| Africa North |
| Moroccan ulema expand community role |
| 2013-12-19 |
| [MAGHAREBIA] The High Council of Ulema is seeking to boost its role as a provider of guidance and training to the public in Morocco. To achieve this, it is reaching out at local levels. During its seventeenth session held in Fez on Sunday (December 15th), the council decided that holy mans from local charters should become more accessible to schools and civil society organizations. Strengthening the role of mosques was another central issue. The aim is to maintain the role that these religious institutions play in educating and training believers. High Council of Ulema chief Mohammed Yessef highlighted the role played by mosques in educating and training people. He said that reform of the religious sphere is a key aspect of any attempt to develop society and emancipate people. "One of the important aspects is immunising mosques and maintaining the sacredness of their role in propagating a tolerant and moderate Islam, far removed from the fanatical ideology that undermines religions and society," he said. To achieve the desired goals, high hopes are being placed in the 200 young imams who have graduated from the Imam Training Institute. Efforts to boost religious guidance must be aimed at both citizens in Morocco and Moroccans living overseas, especially in Europe. For this reason, the Moroccan Council of Ulema welcomed the role played by its European counterpart. Khalid Hajji, the secretary-general of the Council of Moroccan Ulema in Europe, noted that particular attention was being paid to training for imams and preachers so that they could do their job within a framework adapted to the European context. For her part, sociologist Samira Kassimi said the council should become more accessible to young people, in particular by answering their questions and guiding them properly, to thereby prevent them from falling prey to the fundamentalists who are ready to issue myrmidon edicts at any time. She added it was time to make official fatwas accessible through the mass media and regional and local meetings. Members of the public are eager to see the Council of Ulema open up to its social environment. Jamila Matriki, a teacher, said that the Council's decision to become accessible to schools and civil society was long awaited because this will enable it to do community-level work based on scientific and objective opinions far removed from all extremism and fanaticism. "A lot of people, especially young people, go to fanatics for opinions on religious matters," she noted. "This means they can be led astray by bully boyz because of the vacuum in the provision of religious guidance. The institution of the Learned Elders of Islam must play its role in this regard," she said. That view was shared by Omar Jahouri, a student, who said that the gap must be filled. "It is time to focus on schools and universities in order to raise the awareness of children and young people. But we must steer clear of official discourse and use language that brings us closer to young people's concerns," he added. |
| Posted by:Fred |