Gulf | Bahrain
Imam asked to cut politics from sermon
A Bahraini imam and political activist at the centre of a controversy over his Friday sermons has vowed to continue his campaign for national unity and social concord.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:06 September 24, 2008
Manama A Bahraini imam and political activist at the centre of a controversy over his Friday sermons has vowed to continue his campaign for national unity and social concord.
A request by the Sunni Endowments to Shaikh Salah Al Jowdar to "avoid contentious issues and focus on religious aspects of Muslims' lives in his weekly sermons" has shattered the serenity prevailing among preachers throughout Ramadan.
Al Jowdar, a prominent figure in overcoming the emerging tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in Bahrain, said he was asked not to provide local newspapers with copies of his sermon, a tradition that he and several imams have been following for months.
"I received a call from the Sunni Endowments requesting me to use my Friday sermons only for religious purposes and to avoid talking about political or social issues," Al Jowdar told Gulf News. "But, they did not give me the reasons for the request and I am as puzzled as everybody else. I will abide by the request, but I will continue to push for a robust and durable national unity," he said.
However, Shaikh Salman Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, the head of the Sunni Endowments, has disputed Al Jowdar's statements, saying that he was never asked to distance himself from the media. "We never told Shaikh Salah not to disseminate his sermons or send them to newspapers. That would not make sense because any journalist can go to the mosque and publish them. All we did was to request him to avoid addressing in his Friday speeches contentious political issues and to focus on spiritual development, particularly during Ramadan," he said.
The Bahrain Journalists Association condemned the decision against Al Jowdar who writes a column for the liberal Al Ayam newspaper as an "unacceptable move against democracy, freedom and moderation".
"Shaikh Salah is the voice of moderation and his sermons and writings are well appreciated. Those who should be silenced are the imams who, unlike Salah, preach extremism and radicals and threaten peace and national unity," the BJA said.
Ebrahim Shareef, the head of Wa'ad Society, warned that silencing Al Jowdar would amount to a defeat for "moderate and responsible voices in their struggle against extremism and sectarianism."
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