RIYADH, 9 December 2002 — The Islamic Affairs Ministry has reminded preachers not to use mosques as political platforms, saying that fiery sermons could negatively influence worshipers.
The ministry has also revived a 20-year ban on unauthorized people preaching at mosques, the Associated Press reported quoting Ibrahim Al-Netif, head of the department of mosque affairs at the ministry.
“We don’t want mosques to become a platform for political speeches that could promote wrong ideas and provoke people’s feelings,” Al-Netif said yesterday. “We need sermons that teach people the principles of their religion.”
Al-Netif refused to link the warning on mosque sermons to rising anti-American sentiment in the Kingdom, which has been sparked by unqualified American support for Israel, the US-led global war on terror and Washington’s war plans for neighboring Iraq.
The Kingdom has come under criticism from US policy and media circles that it has not done enough to root out religious extremism.
Riyadh has said that it opposes any unilateral US attack on Iraq, which Washington accuses of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
Al-Netif said the ban on unauthorized people preaching at mosques was issued 20 years ago, but negligence in enforcement by government representatives at mosques prompted the ministry’s reminder, which was issued during Ramadan.
