Ghulamallah: We Didn’t Forbid Resort To Strike And To “Harga” (Illegal Immigration)

The head of the Higher Islamic Council, Mr. Bouabdallah Ghulamallah, described the interference of imams in mediating between the Ministry of Education and Trade Unions as “unacceptable” and stressed that it is not the authority of the imam to intervene except at the request of the authorities concerned.

Mr. Ghulamallah has disowned the issue of the prohibition of illegal immigration locally known as “harga” and denied issuing an advisory opinion in the case of strikes by trade unions.

The president of the Higher Islamic Council, as a guest of the “Moudjahid” newspaper forum, excoriated the trade unions that are waging open-ended strikes in the health and education sectors. 

He said: “If the judiciary issues a ruling on the illegality of strikes, its rulings must be accepted. 

“These unionists do not lose anything, because their salaries are valid and benefit from their jobs, but they call on workers to strike, which is contrary to the practices of trade union’s code of ethics and against the laws and regulations”.

Commenting on the mediation by some imams or religious preachers who went to the Ministry of Education, Ghulamullah said: “The Imam can mediate between the protesters and the ministries concerned, but at the request of the union or the relevant ministry only, but if he opts to intervene without guardianship and on his own, this is unacceptable and he thereby loses his status in society”.

The President of the Higher Islamic Council denied that the body had issued fatwas to prohibit “harga” (illegal immigration) or even the resort to “strike”, stressing that all that was said about that is unfounded, adding that: “The Council does not have the authority to issue fatwas only at the request of an official body as President of the Republic or citizens who seek a legitimate chaâria-based opinion”.

“The fatwa (religious decree) in Algeria remains the prerogative of the scientific councils at the level of mosques,” he said. “We want the fatwa to remain confined to the scientific councils of the Ministry of Religious Affairs”.

“We must conduct a scientific investigation and study to know how many Algerians are asking for fatwas from social media outlets,” Ghulamullah said. 

“The Algerians’ search for fatwas from foreign religious scholars does not mean that they have lost confidence in Algerian scholars, because the national scientific council in the country’s provinces is always present,” he noted. 

“We are not sure that the fatwas they receive from abroad are in line with what is permissible in Algeria. It is wrong for Algerians to expect fatwas from abroad, because their owners do not know Algeria, and its customs but if the latter does not violate the law then it is acceptable”.

The head of the Supreme Islamic Council, called on the Government to shoulder its responsibilities because of  some adverse fatwas issued by imams on some foreign TV channels. 

“The imam should to this effect first seek the religious affairs ministry’s opinion and if he refuses, the media outlets should not engage him and the imams’ union should clearly understand that”.

“Some imams unfortunately abuse some families and their secrets are revealed publicly by addressing social stories, which is against morality,” Ghulamullah underlined.

He further announced a forthcoming meeting between the Supreme Islamic Council, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Control Authority to discuss the proposal to engage seasoned imams and muftis. 

He also called on schools to ensure teaching of  Tamazight or Berber language to students for the sake of coexistence among Algerians as part of a basic component of the Algerian nation.