Public needs more direction from UAE Islamic authority, says FNC

Muslims need guidance to help them differentiate between imams who espouse extremism and those who are legitimate teachers.

Members of the Federal National Council tour the call centre at the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowment in Abu Dhabi on February 24, 2014. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Muslims need guidance on sources of fatwas and teachings, Federal National Council members have told officials of the state Islamic authority.

They said the public needed direction from the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments (Awqaf) to distinguish between legitimate imams and those who were pretenders or extremists.

The call was made at a meeting on Monday between the head of Awqaf and other senior officials, and the FNC’s Islamic affairs committee.

“Before if people saw any person wearing a turban on TV, no one would question him,” said Humaid bin Salem, an FNC member from Umm Al Quwain.

“Now with commercial channels people need to know and question before they take what the imams say for granted. They need to know where is the right place to go for religious references.”

Dr Mohammed Al Kaabi, director general of the authority, pointed to his organisation’s dedicated fatwa centre.

Dr Al Kaabi said it had issued 1.5 million fatwas since it was established in 2008. He said it received 1,300 calls, up to 200 text messages and 50 emails a day.

“You can imagine how it would be if people did not have somewhere to refer back to,” Dr Al Kaabi said. “For religious reference, no country has a system like ours where you can call to get an official fatwa.”

Mr bin Salem said that while extremist views were rare in the UAE, Muslims still needed to be more aware of their religion.

“We do not need to market religion, we need to make sure it is understood,” he said.

He said religious education teachers, particularly those in private institutes, needed to be monitored.

“They are the ones who put ideas into our children’s heads,” Mr bin Salem said. “This is the most dangerous phase in a person’s life when they are easily influenced, just when they want to learn about religion. We must concentrate on these teachers.”

Sultan Al Sammahi, an FNC member from Fujairah, said such teachers should be Emiratis.

“We can ask the Government to subsidise their salaries in the private sector,” Mr Al Sammahi said.

“Today we suffer from a weak Islamic curriculum, which could lead to extremism, or no religion, or other non-mainstream attitudes.

“For the past 15 years we have seen a rise in this, mostly from private institutes because they are not monitored.”

Mr bin Salem said he was worried that people were disconnected and unaware of their religion.

“In the UAE we do not interfere with other religions, but at the same time we do not want people to impose their thoughts on others,” he said.

“If they are in the UAE, they are mandated by the country’s laws.”

FNC members said they wanted to see mosques playing an active role in their communities, “rather than just being a place of worship”.

Dr Al Kaabi said this was something Awqaf was looking into.

While members said Emiratisation levels at Awqaf were satisfactory, convincing more Emiratis to train as imams was a priority.

But a survey had found Emiratis were put off by the relatively low salaries and lack of career opportunities.

Dr Al Kaabi said salaries would soon double from Dh7,000 or Dh8,000 to Dh14,000 or Dh16,000.

“They need to know about religious benefits of this profession, that it is not just about the money,” he said.

Ahmed Al Mansouri (Dubai), head of the FNC committee, said the authority needed to work on a future strategy that would complement the Government’s policies.

He said that as Expo 2020 expected to bring in an influx of visitors, Awqaf needed to increase efforts to promote the country's "civilised society with moderate Islamic values".

The committee’s visit was part of a broader effort to review the authority’s work. A final report will be discussed publicly in the FNC with the head of the authority.