SAUDI ARABIA DISMISSES 3,500 IMAMS TO CURB EXTREMISM

Riyadh, 14 Ramadan 1434/22 July 2013 (MINA) – Under a program to monitor all government-paid clerics, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call, and Guidance (MOIA) has removed 3,500 imams from duty since 2003.

Reported a section of the Arabic press on Sunday quoting a 2012 US State Department report, that the dismissals were carried out under a program to curb “extremism”, the Saudi Gazette quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“In a move to curb extremist and absurd fatwas, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah decreed in 2010 that only members of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, and those whom the King permits, may issue public fatwas,” Toufiq Al-Sdiri said, an official from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah and Guidance.

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To Al-Hayat Newspaper, Al-Sdiri told that the imams were not only dismissed over their “extremist” beliefs, but also due to absences and frequent administrative violations.

He also said that lack of skills in reading and memorizing the Qur’anic verses, as well as some incorrect practices based on improper Islamic thinking were are among the reasons for their dismissal.

Sdiri added that the ministry only resorted to dismissing the imams after all other measures were taken.

Commenting on the ministry’s approach to guaranteeing that imams in the country maintain neutral rhetoric, Sdiri said the ministry trusts its preachers as they were picked for their positions based on their educational competencies.

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The US report added that the Saudi ministry had monitored online extremist websites and forums. The report noted that the ministry continues to monitor educational material used in religious summer camps in order to prevent the teaching of extremist ideologies to juveniles. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).