GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As of this year, Gazans have been able to go online before heading to the mosque and find out where their favorite Islamic preacher will be leading Friday prayers. The Ministry of Religious Affairs enabled them to do so when it launched the platform Khotaba, which in Arabic means “preachers,” on Jan. 2. The website also allows users to assess the performance of every preacher in the Gaza Strip and post feedback on his sermons. Preachers are evaluated using a system of one to five stars: unacceptable (one star), acceptable (two stars), good (three stars), very good (four stars) and excellent (five stars).
Yousef Farhat, general director of the Department for Preaching and Guidance at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Al-Monitor, “Previously the ministry’s Friday sermon schedule was distributed as hard copies specifying the name of the preacher, the exact date and the mosque where the Friday sermon is to be delivered. At the end of 2017, the ministry decided to shift to a 'soft copy.' The website informs the preacher at which mosque across the Gaza Strip governorates he will be preaching and allows him to see his assessment. … The website helps worshippers track their preferred preachers and locate the mosque in which they are delivering their Friday sermon. It includes a biography of each preacher indicating his certificates of Islamic studies.”
Farhat said, “The program — aimed at improving preachers’ performance — allows the Ministry of Religious Affairs to get an idea about each preacher and how the public is receiving the weekly religious sermons. When a preacher gets more than one negative feedback at more than one mosque, the ministry will form a special committee to follow up on the evaluation.” A ministry committee has already investigated the performance of several preachers, who then had to take courses in Sharia and the Islamic faith to improve their sermons.
“The program motivates preachers to improve their Friday sermons by interacting with worshippers, narrating religious events, using proper Arabic and refraining from talking about politics,” Farhat added. “When a preacher fails to deliver a strong, convincing sermon and gets negative feedback on the website, the ministry will surely let him go. We will not keep any unqualified preacher.”
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