Close control of sermons and schools in Sana, to counter fundamentalists
Sana (AsiaNews) – Unauthorised schools and religious centres closed, sermons of radical imam’s carefully monitored the celebration of certain feasts banned and mosque opening hours reduced. This is all taking place in Yemen, as part of a government clamp down to counter the activities of Islamic extremists.
In drawing a picture of the Yemeni government’s actions the Yemen Times reveals that the main targets are small Shiite groups, affiliated to al-Haq, who have been closed down because they were unauthorised.
Public tension re-emerged in January 2007, most notably in the media, as a result of government action against the al-Houthi group's armed insurrection, liked to Twelver Shi'ism, an historic messianic variant of Shia Islam which follows the teachings of Hussein Badr Eddine al-Houthi, killed during a ten-week rebellion that he led in June 2004 against the Government in Saada.
The government’s response to the protests of the group’s followers was that its actions were politically and not religiously motivated.
During the reporting period, more than 4,500 unlicensed religious schools and institutions were closed. The Government expressed concern that these schools deviated from formal educational requirements and promoted militant ideology. The Government also prohibited private and national schools from teaching courses outside of the officially approved curriculum. The purpose of these actions was to curb ideological and religious extremism in schools. It also banned text books deemed to contain fundamentalist teachings.
The government’s actions target above all those imam’s who through their sermons incite the faithful to violence, or make statements which undermine public security. Private Islamic organisations can maintain their contacts with international Islamic associations even if, sporadically, they too come under the control of the authorities.
.png)
11/08/2017 20:05
08/06/2023 20:03
