Algeria: People having judicial precedents and extremists barred from observing “i'tikaaf” in mosques!

No sooner have passed off the early days of the holy month of fasting of Ramadan, the debate on i’tikaaf in mosques this year has cropped up in Algeria, and about how it will be managed by the authorities concerned, amid hovering fears of the nefarious dissemination of members of the growing Salafist movement inside the country’s places of worship.

As a result, the Algerian state has clamped down tight control over 55 mosques usually frequented by Salafists, threatening them with expulsion, as parts of attempts to cut the road before elements linked to “Daesh” and “Shiites”.

To this effect, the ministry of the Interior and local assemblies set new stringent conditions for granting licenses to observe “i’tikaaf” for imams and worshippers in mosques, during the holy month of Ramadhan in coordination with the religious affairs directorates.

The Interior Ministry thus outlined in conjunction with the Ministry of religious affairs strict conditions of i’tikaaf in mosques this year by apprising the Imams of these new criteria for allowing this religious practice during the last ten or seven days of Ramadhan.

In this context, the Imam of the mosque of Kalitouss in suburban Algiers Sheikh Kamel Aziz told “Echorouk” that he had filed a request to the Directorate of religious affairs accompanied by official identification documents including the copies of the identity cards of those worshippers seeking to observe “i’tikaaf” during late Ramadhan in a bid to secure and protect the mosques from any extremist deleterious influence in keeping with the new laws and regulations governing the country’s places of worship.