Endowments Ministry Undersecretary Mohamed Abdel Razek said the ministry will not allow celebrations for the Shi'ite Day of Ashura, during the Hijri month of Muharram, to be held in mosques.
The rituals performed on the Day of Ashura include acts of self-inflicting pain, which Sunnis deem contradictory to Islam.
“The Endowments Ministry and Al-Azhar fight the Shi'ite tide in the Arab region and Egypt in particular,” he said, adding that the imams of the mosques were ordered to report any celebration activity to the police.
“Al-Azhar is a platform of moderation and proper approach,” he said. “There is no place for extremist ideas here.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
