A report published by the Saudi Al-Ekhbariya channel on Saturday about the arrest of imams and muezzins renting mosque facilities and embezzling money from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs sparked widespread uproar and criticism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The report shows the moment the field teams of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs seized one of the violating houses in a mosque that has been rented for several years, while a number of tenants say that they pay the rent to the imam of the mosque.
Exploitation of mosque facilities
The head of monitoring and follow-up at the Facilities Protection Unit in Makkah, Abd al-Rahman al-Harithi, said that the rent money is obtained by a person who claims to be supervising or managing, which is considered contrary to all regulations of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Al-Harthy also indicates that 9 violating apartments were seized in this mosque, in addition to 7 rooms that are toilets and places for ablution that are rented, and he adds that electricity and water bills are borne by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Accountant or investor?
The Al-Ikhbariya channel report reveals an academic encroachment, “who lectures his students in the morning at a university in Saudi Arabia and leads worshipers after the afternoon,” on the facilities of another mosque north of Jeddah and renting them out for a fee.
In fact, the minaret of the mosque was not spared from his “investments”, as he converted it into a residential room, which he rents for 800 riyals per month.
The head of field missions in the areas of Islamic affairs, Suleiman Al-Zouman, says that the imam is an academic doctor.
Al-Zouman adds that the imam of this mosque “says that he is a muhtaseb who does not want to apply for an official job, because he does not want all these investments to be discovered.”
Investments stop mosque services
The report shows another imam who took advantage of the mosque’s courtyard and turned it into a laundry, in addition to renting two other commercial shops in the mosque.
This led to inflated water and electricity bills and stopping service from the mosque after the bill reached 130,000 Saudi riyals.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs had monitored these encroachments on mosque facilities during sudden monitoring tours, carried out by field teams, which included standing on three mosques in Jeddah Governorate.
fuss and anger
Communication sites in Saudi Arabia were abuzz with anger about these violations revealed by the report, and tweeters expressed their disappointment at what was revealed.