Imams warned against hiring foreign labor

RIYADH: ARAB NEWS Sunday 12 May 2013 Imams should not hire foreign laborers as imams and muezzins, directed the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance. Doing so would be considered a violation, with sanctions and punishments that may include dismissing them from their missions, said a ministry source. “The system of imams and muezzins stipulate that they should be of Saudi nationality,” the source said. A circular was issued from the ministry’s branch in Riyadh to all directors of mosque affairs, not to recruit foreigners to call for prayer or lead prayers. The ministry also approved earlier construction, renovation and maintenance of mosques to be executed by national companies at a total cost of SR 27,409 million. “These projects come amidst a series of projects that the ministry is implementing across the Kingdom,” said Abdullah Al-Hwaimel, undersecretary for administrative and technical affairs at the ministry. He said that the projects include maintenance and the cleaning of mosques in Riyadh, Kharj and Al-Artawiyah. Other restorative projects within the framework of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque’s program to restore mosques in the Kingdom include the Abdul Malik bin Marwan Mosque, the Abad bin Beshir Mosques, the Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi Mosques and the Souq Al-Haraj Mosque in Dammam, as well as the Uthman bin Affan Mosque in Ras Tanourah. In Hail, said Al-Hwaimel, the restoration of the Al-Sharqi Park Mosque will cost SR 300,000, with other maintenance and construction works in Jouf, Qrayyat and Skaka.