The Ministry of Religious Endowments launched a religious segment on Saturday in partnership with state television that aims to counter “extremist religious ideology”.
In an interview in the launching segment, Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said: “Islam has never witnessed such enemies as those who unjustly belong to it,” referring to “Islamic State” (IS) militants.
He added: “Everything they do is against Islam,” stressing that the “Islamic nation is in a very critical period and Islamist political movements gave the terrorist entities a chance to emerge.”
The regular segment, launched by the ministry in partnership with the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), will be included in the ‘Good Morning Egypt’ daily TV show on Tuesdays and Fridays. The ministry also intends to prepare a regular segment with the national radio station that transmits the Holy Quran, “to to fight back extremist ideology”.
“We need to face the extremist and perverted thoughts, correct them. and fortify the community, especially the youth, from falling into the clutches of these terrorist groups,” the ministry said in an official statement on Saturday.
The ministry has previously taken steps to attempt to reduce the increasing fundamentalism in Egypt, especially among the less-educated youth.
In May, it called on the Egyptian authorities to include the international Muslim Scholars Union, headed by preacher Muhammed Al-Qaradawi, to the list of terrorist entities.
There have been constant attempts by the ministry to control religious speech. “The ministry is working on intensifying the training programmes for preachers, to correct mistaken thoughts. In addition, the ministry will hold many training programmes for imams from the Islamic world and the Arab world,” the ministry said.
The minister noted that recommendations in updating religious rhetoric will be considered in a full project that will be presented at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs’ conference, which will be held next November.
Reporting by Eslam Deif
