“It cannot be ruled out that preachers and khatibs who engage in publicly uncovering fallacy of extremist ideologies become targets of terrorist outfits. The khatibs, who are threatened by terrorists, should either inform the Ministry of Islamic Affairs or police to deal with such situations,” Taufiq Al-Sudairi, undersecretary at the ministry, said in a statement Thursday.
His statement comes in the wake of reports that some preachers in the Kingdom, who have been engaged in fighting terrorism on an ideological plane, have received life-threatening calls.
Minister of Islamic Affairs Saleh Al-Asheikh will open a workshop on intellectual safety and promotion of moderation on Dec. 28. Officials of organizations working for intellectual safety and preachers and imams of mosque will participate in the workshop, said Al-Sudairi.
The ministry aims to organize 12 seminars annually covering all provinces and big cities to discuss the fallacy of extremist ideologies, he added.
As part of the ministry’s continuous efforts to fight extremism over the past six years, it conducted eight seminars in all provinces of the Kingdom with the participation of more than 100 experts. The participants in the seminars spoke on topics such as the root causes of the emergence of extremism and the need to revive the style of preaching to effectively counter ideological deviation. These seminars also stressed the role of Friday sermons to promote a moderate religious attitude among believers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki also affirmed to Arab News that the ministry always urges preachers and other members of the public to inform police about any threat from terrorist groups so that it could thwart their designs.
“The Ministry of Interior will never be slack in chasing and arresting anyone connected with terrorism and bringing them to justice,” he said.
