No room for politics in mosques, Imams exploiting politics in sermons face the sack.

BS Post : 76, Date : 01.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Makkah, Saudi Arabia.The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance is in the process of imposing penalties on imams and preachers who discuss political issues and matters of creed or those who implicitly or explicitly defame specific individuals or states. Such penalties may include dismissal from job if violations are repeated, say sources.

The ministry has emphasized the fact that their role is confined to preaching and providing guidance in religious spheres and that some of them have given written undertakings pledging that they would not inflame public sentiment by discussing politics during Friday sermons.

The sources said there is a committee at the ministry entrusted with following up on such violations and reporting preachers who have taken advantage of their position to influence public opinion.

The ministry statement follows an incident on Friday at Al-Ferdaous Mosque in Al-Nahda district, Riyadh, where an Egyptian worshipper protested against a preacher denouncing Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, defense minister and army chief of Egypt.

Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Abdulaziz, a former imam and preacher, said that mosques are sanctified areas of worship. He said imams should follow the instructions given to them by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

The prayer against El-Sisi, according to one report, prompted the Egyptian to question the preacher, while he was giving the Friday sermon. This infuriated other worshippers who tried to push the Egyptian out of the mosque.

The ministry said it would investigate the incident on Sunday and take appropriate action against the imam. Abdul Mohsen Al-Asheikh, deputy minister for mosque affairs, said the ministry would not allow using mosques for political motives.

E-gates to prevent illegal pilgrims

MAKKAH — About seven electronic gates will be established at the entrances to Makkah to stop illegal pilgrims sneaking into the holy city during the Haj season.

As many as 31 companies competed to win the contract for the implementation of the project, which has received the approval of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The Makkah governorate, the Haj Ministry and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Haj Research Center will study the offers and quotes of these companies and pick the winning firm that will implement the project.

Under the project, the pilgrims will be asked to wear smart bracelets that will be automatically scanned at the gate to immediately tell if they are allowed to perform Haj or not.

The buses will be provided with smart chips that will help automatically scan the pilgrims on board when they pass through the gates.

Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar had earlier hinted the project might be trialed during the upcoming Haj season.

Once fully implemented, the electronic scanning of pilgrims will help curb the number of the squatters who sleep under the bridges in Mina, the minister said.

He said the ministry would establish an integrated Haj terminal in Makkah on an area of 1.6 million square meters to provide pilgrims with all the services they may require.

He said the terminal would house all the Tawafa establishments’ field service offices and the offices of all 80 foreign Haj missions.

Meanwhile, Hajjar approved the operations plan of the National Establishment for Pilgrim Guides for the upcoming Haj season during a meeting at the establishment’s headquarters in Madinah on Wednesday night.
 
He stressed the importance of exerting more efforts and using advanced technology to ensure pilgrims receive the best services.

Happy Independence Day 2013

SRA takes stock of slum rehab projects

Naresh Kamath,  H T  Mumbai, 2013

The poor track record of the various slum rehabilitation projects in the city, only 24% of which have been completed, has jolted the Slum Rehabilitation Authority into action. The authority has now started taking stock of the pending projects to expedite them.

 Of the total 2,395 projects approved since the body was set up, only 597 schemes have been executed so far, with 1.53 lakh slumdwellers rehabilitated. The SRA projects aim to give bigger, better homes to slumdwellers, free of cost, but the scheme has invited a lot of opposition, including allegations of being designed to favour builders, and several projects have been either derailed or stuck in litigation.

Chief executive officer of the SRA, Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, said the stock-taking exercise could accelerate the scheme. “It will help us understand why the schemes have not been executed and what difficulties are being faced in implementation of the projects,” he said.  If builders who are assigned the project are found to be disinterested, notices will be issued to them and their permissions will be cancelled.

Officials said  many errant builders, despite getting the mandatory 70% consent from slumdwellers and the SRA, have not begun work on the project for decades. Many of these are small-time builders or brokers, who sell the project to bigger builders. Moreover, infighting among slumdwellers about the project delays execution. The consent clause, in particular, has always been at the centre of controversy, as slumdwellers allege that their signatures are fudged by builders.

Builders too have welcomed the SRA move. “Such steps will force builders to start work and also help increase the housing stock,” said Sunil Mantri, Chairman, Real Estate Committee (Indian Merchants Chambers) and Managing Director, Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd.