The same official sermon will be delivered in 88,000 mosques across Egypt from this week. The government move is a part of extensive new censorship, with penalties for mosques and preachers that do not toe the official line.
As of this Friday, no preacher will be free to deliver his own sermon, according to a statement from the Awaqaf (religious endowments) ministry. Friday is the holy congregation day at mosques when preachers give their views on religious and political issues.
The sermon will now be written and distributed by officials from the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. The regime has been fighting Islamic groups trying to topple his secular pro-Western rule for the past 15 years.
”Preachers who do not stick to the text (provided every Friday) would be deprived of bonuses and will be subject to an investigation by the legal affairs department at the ministry,” according to the statement from the Awaqaf ministry.
The plan also provides for removing independent preachers and replacing them with imams paid for and appointed by the regime.
Preachers at all newly appropriated mosques will be asked to attend state-run religious indoctrination courses. Preachers will only be appointed after clearing an examination and passing a security test.
”Developing the content of Islamic speeches in mosques, especially those delivered during Friday's noon prayers, and improving the image of Muslims in and outside the country were among the major aims of this plan,” says Awaqaf minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq.
Abdel Monem Abul Fotouh, a member of the guidance council of the Muslim Brotherhood says the move means that the security apparatus, and not a religious institution will run the mosques.
The campaign is ”part and parcel of the pressure the United States places on our regimes to try and limit the Islamic movement,” he told IPS. ”At the same time as the government and foreign countries are calling for economic liberalization and economic freedom, they want to place restrictions on freedom of expression and religious freedoms in mosques.”
Under the authoritarian regime of Mubarak, mosques were among the few venues available for expressing views that do not conform to the official line. The government, increasingly intolerant of opposition, says mosques have become hotbeds for extremist views.
The government earlier stepped up its campaign against extremist groups and against independent Islamic preachers and schools after the September 11 attacks. It took over the management of thousands of mosques and Islamic centers and placed them under the close watch of its intimidating security apparatus.
Mubarak has ruled Egypt with an iron fist under an emergency law since the assassination of former president Anwar Sadat at the hands of Islamic groups in October 1981. Mubarak's officials claim he has won his three seven-year election terms by 95 percent or more--much like Saddam Hussein.
Mubarak has since thrown thousands of opponents behind bars, ordered summary military trials where there was little chance of receiving justice, and executed dozens of opponents.
He has been working particularly to control all Islamic outlets, including the prestigious al-Azhar University, originally a bastion of Islamic learning.
The President appoints the Grand Imam of al-Azhar--usually from the pro-government ranks of the preachers. The deans of Islamic colleges are handpicked by the government on the recommendations of the security apparatus.
State-controlled media has reduced its religious programming to less than five percent. The shows that remain are devoted to non-political issues like the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and personal matters.
The regime has also targeted the non-violent but outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic movement in Egypt. For nearly 15 years, Mubarak's security apparatus hunted down members of the group, who often come from the middle classes. Dozens have been jailed after military trials, and others detained for months without trial.
”The decision to move private mosques into the hands of the government was based on recommendations by the security,” says Mohammed Morsi, an Egyptian journalist with al-Gomohoria daily.
But some critics say that confining the space for religious freedom could backfire, as it may drive people into the arms of non-official religious groups. Critics also argue that the government needs to take the deteriorating economic situation into account in order to fight extremism. Young men turn to violence not because they go to mosques, but due to official atrocities and the weak economy.
Egyptians have traditionally been averse to official mosques, and distrusted official messages. It is not clear how they will react to the new plan.