CAIRO: Renowned clergyman Mohamed Jibril on Wednesday was banned from travelling to London; two days after the Ministry of Religious Endowment (Awqaf) banned him from giving sermons or leading prayers in all mosques nationwide.
The decision came days after Jibril prayed for God to avenge “unjust rulers, politicians, media-men” during a night prayer he led in the Cairo-based Amr Bin Al-As mosque Monday, Youm7 reported.
The Awqaf ministry said Jibril has violated the rules and that he “manipulated people’s feelings.”
Jibril used to lead the last three Taraweeh prayers; an extra prayers performed by Sunni Muslims at night in the Islamic month of Ramadan. The Ministry had approved his leadership of the prayer for 2015 Ramadan.
A security source told Youm7 that the travel ban decision is for only 72 hours only
The ministry will ask all countries to not host Jibril or allow him to lead prayers in their mosques, Awqaf Minister Mohamed Mukhtar Gomaa said in a talk show aired on Sada al Balad TV channel Wednesday.
The well-known Imam is used to travel to many countries to lead prayers and give religious lessons and sermons in great mosques.
Jibril’s ban was issued according to recommendations from the ministry’s inspectors who hold the judicial arrest power, Gomaa said. In October, 2014, the Ministry of Justice has granted the judicial arrest power to the ministry to prevent using mosques in political purposes.
On his Twitter account, Director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) Gamal Eid said that although he is against using religious faith for political aims, the decision to ban Jibril from traveling is “unfair.”
In order to prevent Imams, allegedly belong to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group from using mosques for political purposes, the Ministry of Endowment has put a unified theme for the weekly Friday prayer, AP reported March 4.
In late 2013, the Ministry sacked 55,000 imams who “did not hail from the state-controlled Al-Azhar University,” AP added.