Government does not pressure any scholar authorized by Islamic Ministry – Zuhair

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

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Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair has said that Government does not pressure any scholar authorized by the Islamic Ministry, to prevent them from lecturing the public on religious matters.

When questioned on the rumors that government has decided to prevent popular Sheikh Ilyas Hussain from giving religious lectures and that Sheikh Ilyas would not be lecturing on the special ceremony by MNDF to mark the anniversary of the Maldives conversion to Islam, Zuhair said that government does not intend to stop Sheikh Ilyas and that it is not the policy of the current government to do so.

Noorul Islam.net, a local religious website has said that Sheikh Ilyas had been refused to lecture the ceremony at the MNDF, according to the website which was also confirmed by the Sheikh Ilyas himself. The website also stated that it was confirmed by the Adhaalathu Party as well, which even said that political reasons were behind the cancellation of Sheikh’s lecture. The website also said that Sheikh Ilyas was approached by the top brass of the MNDF to lecture at the ceremony. The website further condemned the government’s actions to intimidate the scholars and called on the government to refrain from such actions.

License to deliver religious lectures are issued and cancelled by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Majeed said his Ministry had not cancelled the license issued to Sheikh Ilyas Hussain and that such a step has not even been proposed by his Ministry.

Many believe that the authority which was behind the refusal, had to be identified.

“Maybe the cancellation was from the organizers. But MNDF can only cancel those organized by the MNDF. That does not necessarily mean that government is intimidating the religious scholars” a commentator said.

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