Author: Ben Sills
Publication: The Guardian
Date: May 4, 2004
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1208815,00.html
The Spanish government is considering
censoring the sermons of Muslim imams in an attempt to control the spread
of radical Islamic ideas - a move that has been criticised as a lurch towards
authoritarianism.
The interior minister, Josè
Antonio Alonso, suggested the plan, which could also see a requirement
that all preachers in mosques be registered.
Mr Alonso told El País newspaper
at the weekend: "We really need to improve the laws to control Islamic
radicals. We need to get to a legal situation in which we can control the
imams in small mosques. That is where the Islamic fundamentalism which
lead to certain actions is disseminated."
Yesterday he warned Islamic groups
that "religious freedom should not be used for other means".
The plan has received high level
backing. The foreign affairs minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, told Telecinco:
"It is important that we know what is said in the Friday sermon. Mosques
have sprung up in Spain in a completely uncontrolled fashion."
Earlier Mr Alonso had mooted the
establishment of a register for the control of religious activities for
all religions and not just Islam.
"The register would clearly state
who is responsible for leading worship and what type of worship will take
place," the interior minister said.
The plan to censor the content of
sermons poses practical problems, not least because Islamic sermons tend
to be improvised and in Arabic.
Angel Acebes, the former interior
minister and now deputy leader of the opposition People's Party, asked:
"Is the interior ministry going to read thousands of sermons from priests
and imams each week?"
He said reintroducing censorship
"would be wrong and runs counter to the constitution", adding that the
the proposal was rash and had been given little thought.
Muslim leaders, however, were more
confused than angry. Mansur Escudero, the president of the Islamic Council,
said the idea was a knee-jerk reaction to public concern about terrorism,
and demonstrated ignorance of Islamic practice.
He said: "I'm bewildered. The proposals
are just surreal. I never thought that a socialist minister with a progressive
attitude and respect for the constitution would launch such an attack on
religious freedom."
While it is the small mosques that
the government is targeting, Mr Escudero pointed out that in Spain the
large mosques such as the M-30 mosque in Madrid, which is financed by Saudi
Arabia, tended to preach a more rigid Koranic doctrine.
Other groups joined in the criticism
of Mr Alonso.
The United Left echoed Muslims in
questioning the implicit connection between Islam and terrorism, and an
association of immigrant workers said it was working on its own proposals
that would involve training for imams alongside self-regulation.
Ironically, the Muslim community
has wanted to increase communication with the state for some time.
Zakarias Maza, the director of a
mosque in Granada, said: "The ministry of interior should get in touch
with us. We'd happily collaborate with them to clear away taboos and misunderstandings
about our religion."
Mr Escudero, who said Muslims had
felt marginalised under the previous government of the People's Party,
said there were already measures in place for the registration of mosques.
He has requested a meeting with
Mr Alonso today to discuss the issue.
