Tunisian professor's Facebook mosque comment sparks controversy

Dubai: A renowned Tunisian professor has stirred up controversy after sharing a Facebook post criticizing the building of mosques, describing it as a waste of public money.

Amin Mahfoudh, who works at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at the University of Sousse in Tunisia, has shared a post which got a lot of attention and criticism.

He began with a question, “Where are we when it comes to sensible work?” The professor continued mentioning three main points describing the Tunisian law on mosques in general as well as state allocations in the sector.

In his third point the professor said: “Mosque expenses related to water, electricity, furnishing and maintenance are paid through the state budget.”

Water shortage

Then he went on pointing out the amount of wasted water people use while in mosques while the country is already suffering from a shortage in water. He also revealed that it would have been much better if the government used that water for trees or agricultural lands.

Mahfoudh continued to criticize the amount of electricity used at mosques too. He ended his post by writing that building new mosques is a blatant assault on all these constitutional principles and a “waste of public money.” 

Munji Marzouq, an ex-energy minister in Tunisia, slammed Mahfoudh’s negative remarks describing them as a "sick intellectual absurdity."

According to the data published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in December 2015, there were 5,470 mosques in Tunisia.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan which is on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage is one of the biggest mosques in North Africa, and is located in Kairouan, Tunisia.