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| Africa North |
| Egypt bans unlicensed preachers, tightens grip on mosques |
| 2014-06-08 |
| [Al Ahram] Egypt has banned unauthorised preachers from giving sermons or teaching Islam in mosques and other public places, according to a decree on Saturday marking a further step in official efforts to curb Islamist influence. The decree issued by interim President Adly Mansour's office also threatened fines and jail for freelance imams, especially if they wore holy manal garments associated with the respected Al-Azhar centre of Sunni learning in Cairo. Selected employees of the religious endowments ministry will be empowered by the justice ministry to arrest anyone caught violating the decree, it added. "No preacher will mount a minbar next Friday without a permit," the ministry said on its Facebook page, referring to the traditional raised pulpit in a mosque. The decision was taken to "preserve national security," it said. The interim government sees mosques as recruiting grounds for Islamist parties and has moved to bring them under tighter control since last July's ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... It said in April it had licensed more than 17,000 state-approved holy mans to give Friday sermons to stop mosques from falling "into the hands of myrmidons." It also disclosed it had removed 12,000 unapproved preachers. Many Egyptians pray at small neighbourhood mosques beyond the control of the state, where outsiders can easily move in to take over and preach their brand of Islam. |
| Posted by:Fred |