How much freedom do Egypt's female preachers really have?
The Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments recently decided to permit female preachers to give lessons and meet with women across the country as part of its reforms to renew religious discourse.
The Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments set a new action plan May 13 for the holy month of Ramadan, which included, for the first time, allowing female preachers to provide religious lessons in major mosques. The female preachers will also be allowed to organize tours in some villages and visit a number of government departments to discuss the values of Islam with female employees.
The Ministry of Endowments issued a decree Feb. 13, 2017, appointing 144 women as religious preachers in mosques. Another group of women were later appointed, bringing the total number of female preachers to about 300. The women underwent training for an entire year to be able to start preaching at the beginning of this Ramadan.
