Tag: islam

Maldives increasingly fundamentalist: Washington Times

“The Maldives, once considered a liberal Islamic nation, has been increasingly adopting fundamentalist Muslim practices,” the Washington Times newspaper claimed yesterday.

The piece, which appeared in the paper’s diplomatic news column Embassy Row, noted that the Maldives has been “hosting Taliban terrorists from Afghanistan and breeding a youth attracted to Islamic jihad. Many analysts report that Maldivian young people have been recruited by Pakistani terrorists.”

“The US ambassador to the Maldives is discussing the possibility of transferring some terrorism suspects from the USmilitary prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the tropical island nation in the Indian Ocean, which some analysts say is a ‘paradise for Islamic radicalism’,” the newspaper claimed.

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Adhaalath slams Haveeru for publishing alcohol ad

The Adhaalath Party has attacked daily newspaper Haveeru for publishing an apparent advertisement for alcohol in its May 19 edition, calling on “concerned authorities” to investigate the matter.

The party claimed this act of Haveeru news violated article 27 of the Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of expression “subject to the tenets of Islam.”

” The ad consists of a label of a certain brand of whiskey and had no name or contact number associated with it,” the  Adhaalath Party said on its English-language website.

The party claimed it was “surprised and shocked” that as the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation, such an act should not happen  “since all the ads published in the local newspapers are screened for conformity with the laws and regulations of the country.”

The party said the issue was “very serious” and warned it could “disrupt the peace and harmony of the country.”

Editor of Haveeru Moosa Latheef said the newspaper did not advertise alcohol.

”It was a notice sent to us by a whiskey-producing company,” Latheef said. ”The notice was to inform people that the usage of their brand name fraudulent and unauthorised.”

Latheef said that the newspaper had mistakenly failed to include the written notice and published only the whiskey picture.

”Yesterday we wrote that we missed the notice and it was a mistake,” Latheef said. ”We will not promote alcohol in the country.”

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Zakir Naik to give lecture in Colombo

Islamic speaker, Zakir Naik, will address Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, reports Miadhu.

Organisers said they expect around 50,000 people, adding many Maldivians living in Colombo will attend.

Naik, a medical doctor trained in Mumbai, will be transported in a helicopter and his lecture will be opened by Governor of the Western Province, Alawi Wauluana.

Organisers said the Colombo lecture will run for about four hours and the Sri Lankan government is providing security in the stadium and surrounding areas.

Naik has been invited to speak in the Maldives, but his original lecture was postponed. Naik is now scheduled to appear at the end of the month.

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Second round of Taliban peace talks to be held in the Maldives

The Maldives is hosting a second round of talks between Afghan lawmakers and “groups opposed to the Afghan government.”

Press Secretary at the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, confirmed the talks were taking place and said the Maldives government had “no involvement”.

“We cannot disclose the location of the talks, although we can confirm that they are not being held in Male’ or other population centres,” he said.

In late January Al Jazeera reported that a group of seven men allied with the Taliban had met in the Maldives on January 22 to discuss an ambitious plan to bring peace to the war-torn country by offering cash, jobs and incentives to Taliban fighters in exchange for laying down their arms. Taliban fighters are reportedly paid US$10 a day, a considerable sum in an embattled country with 40 percent unemployment.

One of the Taliban’s representatives told Al Jazeera the Maldives was chosen as a venue for the talks because “we feel safe.”

Photos of the meeting at Bandos Island Resort and Spa were later leaked to the press.

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Siyamak Herawi, later told news agency Reuters the visiting group included “Hekmatyar loyalists along with some former Taliban members who are now sitting in the parliament. It happened in January in the Maldives and they decided to hold more talks,” he said.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan Mujahideen leader who was the country’s prime minister from 1993-1994, and is considered by the US to be one of the three main leaders of the Afghan insurgency. He was a key figure in the insurgency against Soviet occupation, reportedly receiving millions in CIA funding, but is now labelled as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ by the US.

The last secret meeting in the Maldives coincided with the International Conference on Afghanistan, held in Lancaster House in London on January 28, where discussions revolved around a national council for peace, reconciliation and reintegration to be set up by the Afghan government.

The programme was to channel development funds towards luring fighters away from the insurgency into alternative livelihoods, with US$140 million in international funding earmarked for the first year.

While many elements of the Maldivian government were oblivious to the first meeting, Zuhair said this time “Maldivian security and intelligence agencies have been fully informed of the talks.”

“All the representatives involved in the talks are holding valid passports and visas. None of the representatives involved are listed in UN or other international travel blacklists,” he said.

“Afghanistan’s stability affects the peace and security of our region. The Government of the Maldives supports efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan,” Zuhair said.

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Comment: Such is this mob rule called ‘democracy’

The freedom to think, which we Maldivians claimed for ourselves by ousting a dictatorial government and replacing it with a ‘democratic’ one, appears to have rendered us incapable of rational thought.

There appears not a single principle that is not up for auction in the market of ‘public opinion’. Everything from our faith to our humanity carry with them a political price tag. At the helm is a government which oscillates so wildly between the political right and the left that any keen observer would suffer more repetitive strain injury to the neck than a spectator at a Wimbledon tennis final.

Take for instance the decisions by the Youth Ministry first to maybe-allow, then to disallow and then to definitely-allow, the Muslim televangelist, Dr Zakir Naik, to provide Maldivians with The Biggest Event of their lifetimes.

The latest decision, perhaps by no means the last, must have been arrived at after much soul-searching and in-depth analysis. It must, no doubt, have taken into account the experience of another country where sports grounds were taken over for ‘religious activities’. The Taliban turned Kabul’s main stadium into a hub for ‘religious devotion’, treating their masses to spectacles of execution, death by stoning, hanging and amputations. No doubt the audience departed much enlightened about ‘true Islam’.

Public opinion is a tricky idol at the altar of which to worship. The government must be perplexed at the opposition to its agreement with the United States to relocate some of the ‘Enemy Combatants’ or ‘Illegal Detainees’ from Guantanamo Bay to the Maldives. Why is a society that is so eager to stress its Islamic purity, and promotes its ‘100 percent Muslim’ status with the same zeal as a restaurant promoting a coveted Michelin star, opposed to relocating to their lands these people who have been so utterly wronged by the United States? Did not the eminent Dr Naik himself assert that the 11 September 2001 attacks were an ‘inside job’? By this very learned logic alone, these detainees can be nothing but innocent.

The opposition, however, is not willing to pay any heed – either to the venerable Dr Naik or to empirical evidence. Hosting these ‘convicts’, they cry, would make our country ‘a target’.

No thought is spared to consider:

(a) for a person to be labelled a ‘convict’, they need to first be convicted of an offence defined by law. Most of the detainees have never been charged with a crime let alone convicted of one.

(b) If they were ‘terrorists’, why would then a terrorist organisation attack us for sheltering them? Should they not, by the same logic, then be beholden to us?

(c) No country, other than the United States, has ever attacked another for ‘harbouring terrorists’. And, in light of the disaster that has been the ‘War on Terror’, no government is likely to disregard (or be allowed to disregard) international law again – at least in living memory – to the extent that the neo-conservative Bush government did.

Now the new US government is seeking to relocate these victims of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in modern history. We are hardly going to be top of President Obama’s list of countries to attack next by ‘harbouring’ them.

“Even a country like the United States would not take them,” cries the opposition.

Even a country like the United States? Is this the extent of our liberalism? That we assume that any Western democracy is right, no matter how obviously wrong it is?

‘Public opinion’ – yes, that old chestnut again – and a highly right wing and conservative establishment are preventing President Obama’s government from closing the atrocity that is Guantanamo Bay. The ignorance of a vast majority of the American public, whose fears the Bush administration played like a maestro does an orchestra and are held aloft at a crescendo by Fox News, that bastion of balanced journalism, are now being uncannily echoed in the national theatre of Maldivian ‘public opinion’.

“We have not been told anything! We don’t know why they are in prison!” The opposition is hysterical, claiming to have been left “totally in the dark”.

It is hardly the government’s business to plug the gaping holes of ignorance in the opposition’s knowledge. Over 700 of the 50,000 ‘Enemy Combatants’ that the US apprehended in their War on Terror have been held in Guantanamo Bay. A vast majority of them are innocent. Information on how they were treated in US captivity is widely and easily available in the global public domain from the legal memos that deprived the Detainees of the Geneva Convention to those that redefined ‘torture’ as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ to detailed prison logs that demonstrate what these innocent victims were put through in the name of ‘intelligence gathering’.

Profiles of over 500 detainees held at Guantanamo, diligently compiled by law professor and counsel to two detainees, Mark Denbeaux of Seton Law Hall, are also available for public perusal should one care to concern oneself with such minor details, in addition to the profiles compiled by Cage prisoners.

Given that the number of detainees currently being held at Guantanamo is 181, this information would contain within it details relating to the unfortunate souls destined for the Maldives to find ‘sanctuary’ among their ‘100 percent Muslim’ brothers and sisters.

Deliberate ignorance does not justify selling our humanity for the dubious pleasures of political gainsaying.

It is well and good for the government to advise those agitating against these dogmatic opinions and beliefs to organise themselves and form a viable alternative to the blatant evangelism of the religious right. This, however, becomes near impossible if the government remains unclear where it stands, and vacillates from one end of the political spectrum to the other in any given week.

There is a reason why liberal Maldivians cannot form a coherent whole in their own country – the space in which their ideas can flourish diminishes by the day as the government gives in inch by inch, and the extreme religious right takes mile after mile.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Education Minister has “put the final nails in his political coffin”, says Adhaalath

The religiously conservative Adhaalath Party has condemned a decision by the Education Ministry to make Dhivehi and Islam optional subjects for A-level students, sparking protests outside Minister Musthafa Luthfy’s home last night.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that one police officer was injured during last night’s demonstration.

”Somebody from the crowed punched a police officer in the mouth,” Shiyam said. ”He was taken to hospital last night but has now been discharged.”

The Adhaalath Party yesterday issued a press release ordering its branches to protest against the ”incumbent Education Minister’s decision to make Islam and Dhivehi optional subjects.”

”It appears that in his zeal to secularise the education of this Muslim nation, he has put the final nails in his political coffin,” the press release said.

The party claimed that Luthfy had told Adhaalath officials in a meeting that he would take the issue to cabinet or parliament before taking a decision.

”Mr Luthfy should have learned a lesson or two from the recent controversy created by the Youth Ministry regarding the venue of Dr Zakir’s lecture,” the party said, “or the controversy about selling alcohol in inhabited islands. But obviously our Education Minister is a slow learner.”

”One wonders what is wrong with these people. They seem to be obsessed with creating one controversy after another,” it added.

Last night a group of people gathered near the minister’s house at around 10:30pm. Riot police arrived and dispersed the crowd after almost an hour.

Luthfy told Minivan News that the controversial decision of making the Dhivehi and Islam subjects elective was not finalised.

”It was a suggestion proposed by the Ministry’s steering committee,” Luthfy said. “It is not even a decision that has been approved.”

Luthfy added that it was not the responsibility of a political party to decide which subjects should be compulsory.

”I accept the expression of opinion in a civilised way that respects the rights of others, others,” Luthfy said. ”In my house there are many people who have no connection with the matter at all, and it is not fair to disturb them.”

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer noted that last year 10,000 students sat for their O-level exams, but only 1500 continued with their A-levels. Many others had continued their education outside the formal system, he noted, where subjects were not compulsory, he explained.

The Ministry would ensure the Islam and Dhivehi subjects “are available at every school where students are willing to take the subjects,” Dr Nazeer said.

President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Comment: Playing God’s Advocate

‘Ambiguities’ are stalling the speedy passage of The Regulations to Protect Maldivian Religious Unity. If this document does not get on the government gazette ASAP, this country will degenerate into religious chaos.

Evidence clearly shows Maldivian religious unity to be a perilous façade, having managed to endure without legal enforcement (apart from the small matter of the constitutional stipulation that every citizen be a Muslim for only 800 years).

As citizens who are so closely consulted in the open and democratic lawmaking process of the country, it is our duty to highlight the problem areas so the Ministry can move rapidly to pass The Regulations and pre-empt the imminent religious war.

What is unambiguous about The Regulations is that The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is The Supreme Entity. Omniscient, but not omnipresent, it will choose a learned group to act as its eyes and ears in society. This select group, or The Board, will report to The Ministry any utterances, actions and opinions expressed or held by unlicensed-scholars, citizens and/or visiting aliens/infidels deemed to possess the potential for creating religious disunity.

Recognising the gravity of The Board’s responsibility, The Ministry has set the appointment criteria very high indeed. Members must: (1) be at least 25 years old; (2) possess at least a first degree in Islamic Studies or law; and (3) should not have committed an act defined as a punishable crime in Islam.

Given how difficult it would be to find a 25-year-old graduate who has not fornicated, The Board has the potential to become one of the most exclusive gentlemen’s clubs in the world.

The Regulations states as its raison d’être ever-increasing disputes between religious scholars that threaten to tear the country apart (Article 1.2). The Mullah to Mere-mortal ratio has not yet been tallied in the Maldives, but evidence suggests it could easily be 1:2.

In such a situation, The Regulations will prove invaluable in helping us distinguish the ersatz scholar from the genuine Sheikh. Besides, ‘the liberals’ have long agitated for the government to muzzle over-zealous Mullahs, so it is now time to make a gracious retreat on the issue, happy in the knowledge that your local Mullah is not just any Mullah, but a bona fide Mullah With a License to Preach.

Chapter 4 states that it is a requirement of every Maldivian citizen to actively protect Islam (Article 4.21). Is this a legal requirement? And what does the duty entail? What exactly is it that we need to peel our eyes and cock our ears for? And how do we go about reporting our suspicions and findings? Would there be a 24-hour Infidel Alert hotline manned by a Licensed Mullah?

The Regulations bans any religion other than Islam from all public discourse. Being citizens active in protecting Islam, should we from now on categorically deny other religions exist, or is it sufficient to regard Them with condescension and/or loathing whence acknowledgement is required? Article 6.32 bans any utterance or action that is insulting to Islam in any way. What is the definition of the term ‘insulting to Islam’? Would, say, leaving out the PBUH after Prophet Mohamed be deemed an insult? Or does it have to be material such as those published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005 before it is found to be insulting? What is an utterance that constitutes an insult against a mosque? Would criticism of its architecture – say the suggestion that its dome would have looked better if elevated five inches more – amount to an insult, or would the criticism have to take in the state of its badly landscaped garden, too, before it is deemed an Offence Against a Mosque?

Non-Muslim expatriates in the Maldives – best wean yourselves off the habit of holding garage sales to sell religious memorabilia at discount prices like you invariably do every Sunday ‘back home where you come from’. Any such sale in the Maldives would flout The Regulations (Article 34.a), so resist the temptation to make a quick buck, and firmly turn away the Maldivians queuing outside, desperate to get their grubby apostate hands on your old rosary beads or your Krishna statue for a Bai Rufiyaa.

You should also be aware that even though religion is most likely to have been your favourite conversation starter and probably the source of your best pick-up lines back home, it will not aid your hectic social life on this island paradise in a similar manner. In fact, Article 34.b makes it safer to drop religion from your vocabulary altogether. As a precautionary measure, before The Regulations are passed, you should try and remove any reflexive exclamations that may have embedded themselves in your oral register over the years such as ‘Oh my God!, ‘Jesus!’, ‘Harey Raam!’, etc. If you are more accustomed to saying ‘Jesus [insert expletive] Christ!’, however, it might help your plea of mitigation. Remember, though, a precedent is yet to be set, so proceed with caution.

Article 6.35 is a veritable quagmire of ambiguity. What constitutes a television programme or a written publication that is offensive or insulting to Islam? Where do we look to for guidance? The Taliban? The Emirates? Saudi Arabia? Insulting to whose version of Islam? Can a woman be shown wearing a bikini, or should a burqa be superimposed on her image before she appears on our airwaves? Does every shot of a church, temple and/or synagogue have to be removed from any film that a Maldivian watches? What does it mean that all advertisements should be ‘respectful of the beautiful customs of Islam’ (6.35c)? Apart from beauty being an entirely subjective concept, does this mean that only veiled women can appear in advertisements now? What if she is selling shampoo? Will all Gillette advertisements have to be axed? Books, too, are to be screened by The Board before it is available for Maldivian consumption (Article 31). If this gives us some reprieve from ‘literature’ such as The DaVinci Code, such a regulation might not be entirely without merit, but hardly justifies a group of 25-year-old male graduate virgins deciding our choice of reading matter.

Can The Ministry please clarify why it is necessary to burn the house down to roast the pig?

It has been a surprisingly risky business highlighting the ‘ambiguities’ in The Regulations. This article contains the p-word; names someone whom over a billion non-Muslims regard as the Son of God; allows Lord Krishna a cameo appearance; speaks of women in bikinis; discusses an instrument of shaving for men; and mentions places of worship other than a mosque.

Would The Regulations be applied retrospectively? If Sheikh Shaheem of The Ministry is to be taken at his word, the consequences may not be too dire. Even if found guilty of the Offence of Mockery, he has assured, the author will not be imprisoned, but will receive ‘counselling’. Whether ‘counselling’ involves a psychiatrist’s couch, one-on-one preaching sessions with a Licensed Mullah, or water-boarding, remains undefined and open to interpretation. As is much of The Regulations.

Criminalising (dis)belief will never be free of ambiguities.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Religious unity regulations contain “ambiguities, policy issues”, says press secretary

The new regulations under the Religious Unity Act of 1994 drafted by the Islamic Ministry contain “ambiguities” and provisions that could be in conflict with the government’s stated policies, said the President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

The President of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives, religious scholars, people from the entertainment industry and NGOs have expressed concern with the regulations, he said.

“The attorney general only looked at legal aspects before he approved it,” he said. “He did not have to consider the implications for policy or conflicts with stated government policy, mainly on freedom of expression.”

He added that Attorney General Husnu Suood had “reservations” about some provisions and favoured a cabinet meeting before publication of the regulations in the government’s gazette.

Zuhair said the “points of contention” included provisions that deal with Islamic codes of conduct and ambiguities in the terminology of some provisions.

“Codes of behaviour are not codified in Islam,” he said. “[People] have suggested that the phrase should be changed to tenets of Islam.”

There were also fears that the advisory board to be constituted under the regulations could become “the moral police” and exercise excessive powers.

Some religious scholars have also “personally called and asked for a wider discussion.”

“The president has three main concerns,” he said. “First, social implications of the regulations, second policy implications and whether there could be legal obstacles [to enforcement].”

Moreover, some of the provisions could be “extraneous” as laws already existed to tackle the problems the regulations target.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed urged the president’s office to resolve possible policy conflicts and publish the regulations.

As well as “all respected religious scholars in the country”, other government authorities were consulted in the formulation of the regulations Shaheem said.

Shaheem stressed that the attorney general’s office, the legal department at the president’s office and the Maldives Police Service have all cleared the regulations.

The state minister downplayed fears that the regulations would give coercive powers to the ministry.

“It is not our intention to put people in jail,” he said. “[For example], if someone writes an article mocking Islam, we will only advise that person and offer counselling.”

He added that the ministry did not want to discourage criticism and the regulations were necessary “for democracy and to build a stable society”.

The regulations were important to deal with social problems caused by disputes over religious issues, he explained.

Shaheem noted that he has received complaints this week from two islands with independent or breakaway prayer congregations.

“The islanders told me they [the breakaway group] threatened to attack foreigners if the islanders tried to stop them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the HRCM has denied Zuhair’s claim to local daily Haveeru yesterday that the commission raised concern with the regulations.

The commission’s statement denies that “any complaints” were made by any HRCM official.

It adds that the report in the media was “regrettable” and that the commission was not officially consulted in the process of drafting the regulations.

The Haveeru story quoted Zuhair as saying that the Tourism Ministry and Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation have also expressed concern.

However, the press secretary said today that Ahmed Saleem, president of the HRCM, had called “a senior official” of the government and voiced his concerns.

Saleem told the official he has not had time to review the regulations as he had to fly abroad soon, he said.

The HRCM statement could therefore mean “one of two things,” Zuhair said.

“They have either reviewed it and decided to endorse it or this is miscommunication inside the commission,” he said.

Ahmed Saleem could not be reached for comment at time of press.

Tourism Minister Dr Ahmed Sawad said he has not read the regulations yet.

“We’d like to go through it and see if there are any issues,” he said. “We will attend to it in the next two days.”

Ibrahim Khaleel, managing director of MNBC, said he has not officially complained or expressed concern.

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Islamic ministry completes religious unity regulations

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has unveiled sweeping new regulations governing religion in the Maldives, to be published in the government’s gazette and made law under the Religious Unity Act of 1994.

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed said the new regulations had been produced with the assistance of the Attorney General Husnu Suood and the Maldives Police Service, and would be instrumental in curbing extremist ideologies in the country.

“The Islamic Ministry and the Government of the Maldives strongly support international concern about terrorism,” Shaheem said. “This why at the Islamic Ministry we are doing our best to work together with groups like the MNDF to make sure our country is peaceful.”

Key to the new regulations is the creation of a board with representatives from the Islamic Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Maldives College of Higher Education, the Fiqh Academy, police, NGOs, Maldivian religious scholars and licensed lawyers.

“Their job is to give advice to the Islamic Ministry and the government about how to make religious policy in the Maldives, and how to control these ideas,” Shaheem explained.

“For example, if we want to cancel a scholar’s license, first we will submit the problem to the board and the board will investigate and determine if it should be cancelled. Previously if a minister or the President of the Supreme Islamic Council could just cancel it, and it’s not good to have all the powers in one hand. We need to share it with NGOs and especially the Maldives police, because they have a lot of intelligence about international problems.”

He said he wished to thank “the international community, the President’s Office, the Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defense Force for their assistance and input [with the new regulations].

Shaheem noted that the new rules would require private organisations or civil society associations to seek the ministry’s approval before organising sermons by foreign scholars, and added that it was particularly strict concerning the issuing of fatwas (religious edicts) by individuals.

“Individuals issuing fatwas can be very dangerous and increase the level of extremism and terrorism,” Shaheem said.

The new regulations would also restrict the content of public speeches, in that “when a scholar gives speech he must respect both men and women, and he has no right to encourage aggression.”

Such talks could no longer be broadcast or telecast, he said.

New regulations in depth

The stated purpose of the new rules and guidelines is to “protect and maintain the age-old religious unity among Maldivians, eliminate problems that arise in society because of differences of opinion among scholars on religious matters, ensure that information provided to the public on these issues of conflict does not lead to division and strife, provide the opportunity for religious scholars to raise awareness on religious issues among the public, institute an advisory board to the Ministry of Islamic affairs and designate its functions and responsibilities.”

Clause 4 states that the regulations shall be enforced by the Islamic Ministry and authorises the ministry to delegate enforcement of provisions to other parties, while remaining the country’s highest authority on issuing rulings on religious matters.

Moreover, the ministry shall be empowered to issue “official fatwas” concerning issues on which scholars disagree, based on the Qur’an, the Prophet’s Hadiths, consensus among scholars and after considering “the social traditions of the country.”

Under the regulations, the president shall institute an advisory board in consultation with the Islamic Ministry to offer counsel and assistance in enforcing the regulations, including advising the ministry on revoking or suspending licenses issued to religious scholars.

The board shall also advise the ministry on ordering the relevant government authority to take action against “threats to religious unity”, recommend changes to policy, laws and regulations.

The Islamic Ministry will determine the composition of the board and assume its secretariat post.

To be eligible for the board, members must have at least a bachelors degree in either Islamic studies or Shariah law from an institution or university accepted by the Maldives government, while one of the three Islamic Ministry representatives on the board shall be elected as the chair.

Once the regulations are enforced, the Islamic Ministry will issue licenses for religious scholars to preach and deliver sermons.

The criteria for issuing licenses requires that the scholar be a Sunni Muslim of 25 years of age with a degree in Islamic studies from an accredited University.

Moreover, scholars who have been convicted of either a crime with a punishment prescribed in the Quran or of corruption, bribery, sexual assault or a drug-related offence shall not be eligible.

For scholars without the requisite qualifications, the ministry can issue licenses based on the board’s recommendation and the scholars’ experience and contributions to religious knowledge.

Further, foreign scholars must be mindful of Maldivian culture and tradition in delivering sermons or providing counsel.

Meanwhile, the guidelines for issuing fatwas requires that it conform to the Sunni sect and should not be in conflict with the consensus of Islamic scholars. Fatwas can only be issued in line with the Fiqh academy of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Egyptian Darul-Ifthaqil, Azhar University, the Maldives’ Islamic Fiqh academy, and the Rabiyathul Aaalamil Islamic Fiqh Academy.

Prohibitions

Once the regulations are published in the government gazette, it will be illegal to promote personal views on matters where there is a difference of opinion among scholars.

Sermons should not contain language that “encourages violence” or could lead to “conflict, quarreling and antagonism among the people”.

Moreover, it will be illegal to either telecast or broadcast sermons that “encroaches on the rights of a person based on gender” in opposition to Islamic principles.

It will also be illegal to preach other religions, and disseminate information on “culture and traditions” of another religion in a way that could “engender admiration for it” or build places of worship for religions other than Islam.

Clause 30(d) states it will be illegal to preach a religion other than Islam “through any medium” or disseminate information on another religion in a way that could “draw people’s interest and attention”. Publication and distribution of religious literature translated into Dhivehi will be illegal.

The ministry will also be empowered to order the deportation foreigners “suspected with sufficient evidence” of preaching or proselytizing other religions.

However clause 22 of the regulation states that providing information about other religions for academic purposes, official research or lectures for the purpose of comparison with Islam will now not be illegal. Moreover, the protection and preservation of ancient relics would be exempt from the regulations.

It will remain illegal for licensed broadcasters to air programmes, advertisements or music that either “insult or denigrate Islam”, in line with article 27 of the constitution, which allows for free expression except where that expression contradicts the tenets of Islam. Clause 35(b) of the new regulations explicitly states that internet websites and blogs shall not be exempt from this.

“There are two sides to extremism,” Shaheem explained, “including the extreme irreligious side. Some people are saying their own opinions about the Qur’an and and our beloved Prophet’s (PBUH) sunnah; it is not allowed for anyone to say whatever he wants to.”

It will furthermore be illegal for local businesses or companies to make announcements or publish advertisements with content that is “contrary to Islamic codes of conduct or behaviour.”

Religious subjects may only be taught in the country with authorisation from the relevant government authority, which has to approve the curriculum and syllabus.

The regulations will also make independent or breakaway prayer congregations illegal and subject to police action.

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