Kuwait sacks 198 expatriate clerics

kuwait city - Kuwait's Minister of Justice and Endowment Yaqoub Al Sane has terminated the services of all 198 expatriate preachers hired by the ministry, Al Qabas Arabic daily reported on Tuesday.
An informed source with the ministry said that the justice and endowment minister took the drastic decision after he came to know that seven preachers were wanted by the security authorities in Kuwait. Despite being on the wanted last, these preachers continued to draw salaries from state exchequer. Some of these clerics do not hold any academic degree and espouse extremist ideologies, the Arabic paper reported.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs approved the conditions and regulations governing Mutakifeen - persons who seclude themselves in a mosque for worship during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
The conditions state that the age of Mutakif - a singular noun of Mutakifeen - must not be less than 18 years, and those below 18 years are subject to their guardians' consent regarding Itikaf (seclusion in a mosque).
A circular to this end, a copy of which Al Qabas obtained, made it clear that a mosque's imam is held responsible for Mutakifeen.
The circular mandated that a Mutakif must provide the imam of the mosque with his name and contact number.
The circular stressed that a place outside the premises of the mosque must be allocated to do Itikaf so that they do not cause any inconvenience to the regular worshippers.
news@khaleejtimes.com