Forbidding imams without Al-Azhar credentials from taking the pulpits of Egyptian mosques, and closing down mosques of less than 80 square meters (862 square feet) in size during Friday prayers, were decisions that have had quite an impact lately. The Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf (Islamic Religious Affairs) considered the move necessary to stop the exploitation of pulpits for political motives, and allowed it to put an end to the phenomenon of using the Egyptian pulpits for the dissemination of political speeches, through the implementation of strict measures that the ministry adopted in prosecuting and preventing preachers with known political orientations from giving sermons. The facts on the ground, however, demonstrate that the phenomenon, which for years remained the most useful tool for the forces of political Islam to gain popularity, has not been completely eradicated, and was only temporarily sidelined.

Barely weeks passed since the Ministry of Awqaf took the decision to ban approximately 47,000-55,000 monthly remunerated imams and preachers of mosques and prayer circles from taking to the pulpit on Fridays, before most of them returned to practice their activities through the innumerable prayer circles that dot the Egyptian landscape.

According to Ousama Shoukour, who is the Imam of the Ebad Al-Rahman Mosque in Buheira, and one of the preachers banned by the government from taking the pulpit, the decision did not stop him from doing just that. The decision is hard to implement because the people are the real overseers and not the Awqaf’s inspectors, each of whom is responsible for the supervision of 20 to 30 mosques. As a result, they cannot attend all the Friday sermons that take place, and no measure could ever deter believers from listening to their preacher’s words, especially if they really trust in him and believe him to speak truth.

Shouker told Al-Monitor: “As a result, I am banned by the government from giving sermons. Yet, the people ask and insist that I do so every Friday from a variety of mosques.” He stressed that the ministry’s methods were ill-conceived and extremist, because there were no effective substitutes for the preachers who were discharged from duty: “It should have instead held seminars and assessments for the current ones and excluded those whom it believed were too religiously hard-lined, or affiliated with a religious or political extremist faction, particularly considering that there are imams among them who are more experienced and more knowledgeable in Sharia than even Al-Azhar graduates.”