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| http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/02/19/10190804.html |
02/19/2008 12:35 AM | By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
Riyadh: An official at the Saudi ministry of Islamic affairs ruled out accusations that prayer imams and preachers in Saudi Arabia are not concerned in their sermons with the daily social life of citizens.
Dr Tawfeeq Al Sudairy, undersecretary of the Saudi ministry of Islamic affairs, described as "individual behaviour and not a phenomena" the use of mosques' Friday sermons for promoting certain ideologies.
In statements to Gulf News, Ministry of Islamic Affairs officials warned against the phenomenon of individual fatwas (Islamic edicts) in particular when it comes to public and major issues.
He underlined the importance of adopting what he called 'collective fatwas' on major issues and topics that concern the whole society. He added that these fatwas were reached after studies and research from prominent Muslims scholars.
Obstacles
Meanwhile, the Ministry has admitted that some of its mosques imams (prayer leaders) and preachers lack qualifications that enable them to promote the role of mosques.
In a report, to be discussed by the Saudi Shura (Consultative Council) soon, the ministry said that there are a number of obstacles that prevent the ministry from performing its expected tasks.
It cited the weak financial support for holy Quran memorisation societies, the difficulty in obtaining official documents for endowments and the ministry's lack of well-qualified translators in religious sciences.
But the Islamic affairs committee at the Shura Council said that the report lacks comparisons between performance indicators of the ministry and so it is difficult to know the degree of improvement in the performance.
The committee ignored the long list of complaints, the ministry said should be solved, in order to enable it perform its tasks efficiently. The Shura committee allocated 91 million Saudi riyals (Dh89.24million) for purchasing new equipment for King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. It asked the ministry to find fixed resources for covering the expenses of its charitable foundations and endowment libraries.
Earlier a number of Shura members called for the restructuring of the ministry in a way that it would no longer remain a burden to the state's treasury.
They proposed the formation of an independent commission to look after mosques and another endowment independent body with an appointed board of directors not linked to the ministry.
They proposed the formation of an independent commission to look after mosques and another endowment independent body with an appointed board of directors not linked to the ministry.
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