Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Islamic affairs minister has confirmed that many imams have been fired in recent weeks after failing to follow a ministry’s directive to warn citizens against the Muslim Brotherhood and its ideology, local media reported.
Saudi minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance Abdullatif bin Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh said yesterday (Tuesday) that the ministry did not wish to suspend or fire any of their employees but stressed the importance of the jobs of clerics and sermon givers.
“The reports of several imams being fired is true. This is due to failure to implement the ministry’s directives in publishing a statement from the Senior Religious Scholars Council commenting and explaining to people the dangers of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group,” Al Sheikh said.
Replaced
“There is no doubt that their termination does not mean that they are from the Brotherhood or supporters of this ideology, but rather it is a regulatory procedure of the ministry against those who do not implement directives or were slow in implementing it. [Such people will] be dispensed with and replaced with those who are prepared and those who meet the conditions,” he added.
Saudi Arabia formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2014.
According to Okaz, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs were jointly working on a plan to nationalise jobs of imams and muezzins at prayer halls of major commercial complexes.
“Firstly, as you know, the Ministry is very interested in the houses of God Almighty and is very dependent on the imams and preachers, and is prepared to support a large number of preachers with brilliant thinking and those with good orientations who meet the conditions of the position of imam, whether in small or bigger mosques.
"A large number of them are prepared for this honourable work, and the ministry has a very, very large number of advanced candidates interested in these jobs and are willing to occupy these jobs, including many who are graduates of Sharia colleges and who hold masters and PhDs in Sharia sciences,” Al Sheikh further said.
