A report by US State Department revealed that the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance sacked 3,500 imams from 2003 through 2011 after a central committee of the ministry failed to persuade them to change their extremist views, a local newspaper quoted a report by the US State Department as saying.
The report said that the ministry did not dismiss in 2012 any imam who has been following such extremist ideologies, but monitored websites and forums of extremists and posted evidences to rebut the cases shown online. The ministry nonetheless continues to monitor the studying materials taught in religious summer camps to prevent the education of such extreme subjects for underage students.
Tawfiq Al-Sudairi, undersecretary of the ministry, said that repeated absence by employees, lacking ability of memorization and reading skills were among other reasons for termination.
“Some wrong practices based on incorrect ideas are also among the reasons cited for their sacking,” said Al-Sudairi, adding that the ministry resorts to the sacking policy only after all other redressing methods fail.
“The ministry has total confidence in the persons entrusted with the preaching mission, as their appointment requires a certain level of scientific education and skills,” he said. “The current sheiks are very trusted scholars.”
He pointed out that the Ministry holds seminars, workshops, conventions, programs and courses in Islamic law at the Institute for Training Imams and Preachers where senior scholars cooperate with the ministry to qualify and develop imams and their work.
3,500 imams sacked over a decade
