Rabat, Morocco - Morocco on Monday connected its largest mosques to a television network to broadcast a tolerant version of Islam as part of a government drive to fight radical Islamic fundamentalism, officials said.
The move effectively puts the country's largest mosques under the government's direct control, curbing the role of radical Muslim preachers in many places of worship. Morocco has been on alert against the influence of radical Islamists since 2003 when suicide bombings killed 45 people.
Many in the government and in anti-Islamist opposition circles blamed radical preachers for the attacks, arguing they had influenced the bombers. King Mohammed on Monday launched the programme to connect 2,000 mosques across the country to a television network to air sermons and other religious guidance.
"The 2,000 mosques are the largest ones and account for more than 80 percent of places of worship in terms of the numbers faithful in attendance and space. The total number of mosques in Morocco is 35, 000," a senior government official said.
Almost half of the 2,000 mosques hooked up to the television network are in the countryside, where the illiteracy rate is about 80 percent. The daily programme, including a 10-minute Koranic interpretation, is produced by elite Islamic scholars under the supervision of the Habous and Islamic Affairs Ministry. "The objective is to spread noble discourse to the faithful and protect mosques from weak and deviant speeches," Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Taoufik said.
Last month Morocco appointed 50 women as the first female state mosque preachers to combat the influence of female radical Islamists at mosques and other public places, such as hospitals and prisons. The government had earlier bolstered the authority of the country's Higher Council of Ulemas on religious matters to try to cut the impact of fatwas issued by more radical, freelance clerics.