Cairo – He is one of the most prominent figures topping the post-June 30 Revolution scene in Egypt. Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa is one of the main figures used by the political leadership to engineer control over Dawa (preaching work to have people got acquainted with Islamic teaching) in mosques and avoid the exploitation of mosques' podiums for political purposes. Gomaa was appointed as an Egyptian minister of Awqaf (religious endowment) on July 16, 2013 under the government of former prime minister Hazem El-Beblawi, the first cabinet formed after the June 30 Revolution. Gomaa's decisions: Gomaa took a number of important decisions to avoid the exploitation of mosques for political, partisan or sectarian purposes. In September 2013, he ordered not to hold prayers inside mosques smaller than 80 square meters. He also banned non-Azharite scholars from delivering sermons in mosques; which implied the ban of Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood (MB) scholars and imams. On January 26, 2014, Gomaa ordered that the Unified Sermon should be delivered in all mosques nationwide. Moreover, Gomaa decided to purge the ministry from all MB members, supporters and sympathizers after the group was designated as a terrorist group in Egypt. This decision led to the suspension of some 12,000 imams and scholars.
