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Islamic preacher Ibrahim Fareed arrested Miskiy Meehaa (pseudonym) Malé June 2002 Maldivian Islamic preacher Ibrahim Fareed was arrested in Malé on Saturday 8 June at 3.15 p.m. Later, the National Security Service took extra clothes from his house, indicating he will be held for an extended period.
Fareed was attracting large crowds of several thousand people to a recently opened mosque near the New Harbour area. Several days ago he was summoned by the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and warned about his lectures which focussed on the themes of Islamic behaviour and Sharia law. Fareed was warned that his lectures were threatening 'peace and harmony'. In that case, he replied, Prophet Muhammad's words threatened 'peace and harmony'. Lectures in Maldivian mosques can only be given with the permission of the Supreme Council. These speeches usually occur after the evening prayer. Fareed had received permission, and after this warning he was relegated to the status of reserve speaker, badhalu gai. On the night of Friday 7 June, the large crowd at the mosque included NSS officers in plain clothes. After the arrest people commented that a similar situation exists in Egypt where many Islamic preachers have been gaoled. Others were prompted to reminisce that one of President Gayyoom's former teachers at Azhar University in Cairo had visited Maldives a number of times before falling out of favour. He never returned to Maldives and is believed to have emigrated from Egypt. |
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Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
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