The Bahraini government plans to set up an Islamic guidance body that will eventually supersede the commission for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice endorsed by parliament last April, Ministry of Islamic Affairs sources told Gulf News yesterday.
"The ministry is currently fine-tuning the details of the counselling and guidance body so that it can submit it to parliament when it reconvenes after the summer recess," the sources said, quoting the undersecretary, Dr Fareed Al Miftah.
The new project includes female preachers and researchers, an unprecedented move in the country where religious functions are an all-male domain.
According to ministry sources, the project will not be patronising or intimidating in its approach. "It will take into consideration the differences between the various sects and will not seek to exclude anyone," it said.
The government has not welcomed the formation of the virtue promotion and vice prevention commission and sought, unsuccessfully, to thwart its parliamentary approval.
"There is no need to set up a new body as the ministry of Islamic affairs has always fulfilled its primary role of promoting Islam," the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Aziz Fadhel, told deputies before the vote in April.
The ministry said that the project would be in accord with modern requirements. "We want something more in line with modern conditions and ways of life. The new project is very mindful of local, regional and international developments and clearly steers away from the custodian attitudes," he said.
"Compliance with religious teachings should stem from everybody, without the need for an authority or individuals to impose them," the ministry said, hinting at the potential compelling nature of the actions to be undertaken by the commission.
News last April that the Council of Representatives approved the proposal by Islamist deputy Jassem Al Saeedi for the formation of a commission for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice prompted a wave of criticism by civil societies, liberals and some religious figures who feared that it would curb personal freedoms and encourage extremism.
Bahrain is home to a large community of non-Muslims among the more than 220,000 expatriate workers.
Gulf News
