Bahrain denies female mu'athins claim

Manama: Claims that a Shiite directorate has appointed three female mu'athins (Person who calls for prayer)  in mosques were on Sunday rejected as “unfounded”.

A Bahraini lawmaker on Saturday said that he had been handed documents mentioning the names of three women on the payroll of the Shiite Endowment Directorate and who had been employed as mu'athins.

“I was shocked to see the names of the three women next to their occupation as mu'athins. We all know that under Islamic values and orders, females cannot hold this position,” Jassem Al Saeedi, an independent Salafi MP, said. “Now either these women were hired as mu'athins, which is a violation of Islam, or they were on a fake payroll which is an indication of financial mismanagement within the directorate. Either way, the minister of justice and Islamic affairs has to explain the situation,” Al Saeedi said.

However, the directorate said that the women had been hired as cleaners in women's mosques.

“We have never hired any female mu'athins, but we did hire four women to work as cleaners in the women's section of three mosques in order to avoid sending in men,” the directorate said.

Sunni and Shiite mosques are under different jurisdictions within the Ministry of Justice and Islamic affairs.

According to the 2009 State Department religious freedom report, 723 Shiite mosques and 339 Sunni mosques are registered with the government.