Doha: Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs H E Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanem has said that the ministry is making tremendous efforts to attract and train Qatari imams and preachers.
He said there are 185 Qatari imams and 158 preachers.
The Minister said that Qatari imams are offered attractive salaries and other incentives to encourage and motivate Qatari youth to engage in imam and preacher qualification programmes, in order to achieve the ministry’s strategy.
He said the strategy aims at training Qatari imams to carry out their duty to the best in informing people of their religion, and spreading moderation and tolerant and the lofty morals of the true Islamic religion, as well as to carry out their advocacy tasks in the appropriate manner and required by Shariah, and to contribute to reviving the role of the mosque in society.
On the ministry’s most prominent directions and plans to activate the role of mosques, the Minister stressed the ministry’s keenness to activate the message of mosques and supervising them, as they contribute mainly to the advancement and cohesion of society, based on the status of mosques in the Islamic religion, and to employ imams, preachers and muezzins who are qualified with Islamic knowledge.
On the urban character in Qatar, which has recently distinguished the country’s mosques with designs that reflect its excellence, the Minister pointed out that the ministry about a decade ago had launched many modern models for building mosques in Qatar.
He noted that a committee of engineers and experts from several ministries participated in designing modern mosques in Qatar, so that these designs are of the best international standards and specifications, and in accordance with an Islamic perspective in line with Qatari heritage.
In the designs of mosques, the ministry takes into account the difference in the area of land on which mosques will be built, the requirements for green, and sustainable buildings, the emphasis on sustainability conditions in the use of electricity and water, and the preservation of the aesthetics of heritage in the designs, which reflects the authenticity of the Qatari and Islamic heritage according to the highest standards, he added, referring to Al Qebab Mosque as an example.
About the most prominent features of the development witnessed by the endowment in Qatar during the past years and the current plans and mechanisms for its development, he said that the features of the development witnessed by the endowment in the country through the General Directorate of Endowments are numerous, and the most important of them lies in the development in the disbursement of endowment revenues.
In regard to the projects and sectors supported by the endowment and supervised by the ministry the Minister said that the sectors that are supported by the endowment are the sectors that fall under the endowment fund, which include all aspects of life, and therefore represent the comprehensiveness and diversity of projects and sectors supported by the endowment.
In regard to the Zakat Fund and the extent of cooperation of national companies and institutions in contributing their zakat to it, the Minister said that the Department of Zakat Fund is the government agency to which the law has been assigned the competence to collect Zakat Fund and pay it to those who are entitled and meet the conditions of Shariah banks.
He said that the fund’s assistance to eligible families contributes to strengthening the community solidarity system, as well as sustainable development, as the efforts of the Zakat Fund are directly linked to the sustainable development goals.
