In what appears to be an attempt to curb politics mixing with religion, the Egyptian government has recently issued a decision preventing preachers who are involved in politics from orating in mosques. Any imam who is part of any political group or party will be banned from preaching even if the imam was certified by Al-Azhar (the highest Sunni authority in the Muslim world), said Sheikh Muhammad Abdel-Razeq, the undersecretary of the Minister of Endowment for mosque affairs. The Ministry of Endowment has tightened regulations regarding mosques after the military-backed ouster of former Islamist president Mohammad Morsi who, during his one-year rule, encouraged the rising tide of political Islam by allowing unlicensed preachers to deliver sermons in mosques. "When religion is mixed with politics, they both go astray," Abdel-Razeq said. According to a ministerial decree issued in January, the Ministry of Endowment now has authority over all mosques in Egypt. The Ministry has since banned 12,000 imams who do not have Al-Azhar certification from performing oration. It is "ridiculous", Abdel-Razeq said, that so many imams were allowed to give orations without licences. Some observers have welcomed the decision, with some saying that it would end the exploitation of mosques in politics. Sherif Taha, spokesman for the Salafist Al-Nour Party, said that the party agrees with having regulations that require qualified preachers. The party agrees that Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Endowment should monitor such procedures as long as banning the preachers is not based on security reasons as it used to be before the 25 January Revolution. The party also agrees that mosque pulpits should not be used for political or partisan propaganda because it causes "disruption", Taha said. "Al-Nour Party is against banning any citizen from his/her constitutional rights as long as he abides by the law and has the required qualifications," he said. Editor-in-chief of the privately-owned Al-Shuruq al-Jadid daily, Imad-al-Din Husayn, praised the decision, saying it would "put an end to the exploitation of mosques in politics." "Mosques, especially during Friday sermons, are one of the main arenas for the war on extremism, violence and terrorism," he said. "Mosques are used by extremists to brainwash many youths and implant extremist ideas into their minds," he added. In its editorial on 27 April, the privately-owned Al-Yawm al-Sabi daily also praised the decision saying it would "distance mosques from political disputes". It urged the society to support the decision which it regarded as "a message to those who abused mosques for certain political purposes." Columnist Jamal Tayi wrote in the state-run Rose al-Youssef daily saying that mosques have for long been "incubators used by terrorists to spread their [ideological] poison into the minds of Egyptian people." Yet, others believe that the decision is meant to curb the influence of certain clerics ahead of the presidential election slated for 26-27 May. They also argue that the decision aims to prevent the use of pulpits in election campaigning. The Ministry of Endowment has recently filed reports against a number of preachers, including prominent Salafist ones, such as renowned Salafi preacher Mohammad Husayn Ya'qoub, for preaching in mosques without authorization. The Ministry criticized the acts of Ya'qoub "and his Salafist group" as they prevented preacher Mohammad Izz-al-Din, who was assigned by the Ministry of Endowment, from delivering a Friday sermon in Al-Rahman Al-Rahim mosque in Al-Minya (in Upper Egypt) on 18 April. Sufi leader Abdel-Hadi al-Qasabi issued a statement on 20 April denouncing the "thugs" who prevented Sheikh Izz al-Din from doing his job. The Ministry urged the authorities to take the necessary procedures to protect mosques and the endowment's preachers against any potential assaults. Anger has erupted in recent months over several preachers who have addressed politics in their sermons. The Ministry has dismissed a number of preachers for inciting violence. The Ministry of Endowment now chooses a unified topic every week for the Friday sermon after an online discussion between the registered imams on the Ministry's forum.
