The Salafi Front announced Monday that they would boycott the forthcoming presidential elections, describing it as “illegitimate,” reported Youm7.
“We will not participate in the elections, because we don’t consider it legitimate,” the spokesperson of Salafi Front Khaled Saeed told Youm7 on Monday.
Saeed added that the front will continue protesting, “even if the current situation lasted for 100 years,” signaling that the Muslim Brotherhood protests organized by the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy “has many benefits.”
Deputy of Religious Endowment Gaber Tayee told Youm7 Tuesday that Salafi preachers are prohibited from giving sermons in Cairo mosques even if they possess a certificate from Al-Azhar.
The Ministry of Endowment filed a report against a number of preachers, including the preacher Mohamed Hussein Yaqoub, for preaching in mosques with no authorization, the ministry said in April 18 statement.
The ministry issued a statement April 20 criticizing the acts of the preacher Mohamed Hussein Yaqoub “and his Salafi group,” as they prevented the preacher Mohamed Ezz al-Deen, who was assigned by the Ministry of Endowment, from doing his job on Friday in al-Rahman al-Raheem mosque.
The ministry urged the authorities to take the necessary procedures to protect mosques and the endowment’s preachers against any potential assaults, the statement added.
No one is allowed to take to the podium except for those assigned by the Ministry of Religious Endowment, Tayee told Youm7.
Saeed rejected the ruling, and told Youm7 that each Muslim should know about politics, and separating religion from politics is “not Islamic.”
Sufi leader Abdel Hady al-Kasaby issued a statement on April 20 denouncing the “thugs” that prevented Sheikh Mohamed Ezz al-Deen from doing his job and giving the Friday sermon at al-Rahman al-Raheem mosque.
Anger has erupted in recent months over several preachers who have addressed politics in their sermons, and the ministry has dismissed a number of preachers accused of inciting violence.
On March 11, the ministry decided to put all mosques in Egypt under its supervision for a period not exceeding one month, according to Youm7.
In a statement issued in January, the ministry said three preachers were suspended from work in South Sinai because they had violated the ministry’s rules for preaching.
