The Ministry of Religious Endowments plans this month to implement a program to confront religious extremism following a recent spate of attacks on people and mosques, Minister Abdallah al-Husseini said on Wednesday. The ministry's plan to curb extremism includes establishing a satellite channel to counter extremist ideas and spread religious moderation, al-Husseini said. In recent weeks, Islamic hard-liners have allegedly attacked several people and shrines that did not conform to their strict interpretation of Islam. It was reported last month that dozens of Salafis, conservative Islamists, invaded the Monufiya home of a woman, burned her furniture and accused her of prostitution. Salafis also allegedly cut a teacher's ear in Qena, Upper Egypt last month after accusing him of renting his flat to two young women the attackers said were engaged in prostitution. Members of the movement are also suspected of demolishing several shrines of revered Sufi figures. Salafi leaders denounced the attacks and denied the movement's involvement in them. During his meeting Wednesday with 50 preachers, imams, and Islamic leaders, al-Husseini condemned those who exploit the absence of security in Egypt to commit crimes in the name of Islam. The minister also said the government will not permit attacks on mosques and Sufi shrines. He said the ministry's new satellite channel will represent the voice of the religious establishments, including al-Azhar, al-Awqaf, and Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriya. The ministry also plans to send senior sheikhs and imams around the country to meet people and hold seminars on the principles of Islam and the rejection of violence.
