Saudi Gazette report

MADINAH — Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance Dr. Abdullatif Al-Sheikh has warned the ministry officials and preachers against the dereliction of duties and the involvement in corrupt practices.

“Any employee found to be committing violations, whether an imam, preacher, or observer, he will be referred to the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) in order to face the consequences of his action,” he said while addressing officials of the ministry’s branch in Madinah on Monday.

Al-Sheikh said that it came to the notice of the ministry that there were 16,000 posts that were occupied by imams who were not performing their duties. He said that all these posts were reclaimed and replaced by others. “You may find a mosque preacher who does not fulfill his duty of leading prayers for worshipers and he still draws his salary. Is it permissible for such preachers to eat this forbidden money?

The minister noted that there are 15,000 jobs of mosque servants, of whom those who fulfill their duties are a small percentage. He called for everyone’s cooperation to correct the defects and accountability of the tasks one is entrusted with. Delivering a strong message to all the ministry officials and employees, he said that employees who are reluctant to perform their duties will be referred to Nazaha, and noted that his ministry has found many violations, involving corruption related to jobs.

“The responsibility is great on us, and we must do what we have been entrusted with all the vigor; and caring for God’s home is one of the priorities that we must be keen on performing. Each of us is responsible for what he was entrusted with, and we will not tolerate anyone who fails.”

The minister called on all employees to report to him instance corruption or negligence over his own phone around the clock, indicating that his goal is to represent the ministry in charge of it and its workers and to get rid of the corrupt who eats ill-gotten money.

Al-Sheikh pointed out that his ministry has made progress that reached the level of “very good” in improving the situation within the ministry, and that the ambition is to rise to the level of “excellent.”

Al-Sheikh stressed that there are distinguished employees, who work diligently and with dedication in a way realizing the aspirations of both the leaders and subjects and there are those who fail due to their negligence and irresponsibility.

“There are mistakes and shortcomings, and we must cooperate in correcting them whether we are the leaders or others, and you must cooperate with us in informing us about any shortcomings and if we do not join hands, we will not be able to reach the desired goal,” he stressed.

Al-Sheikh indicated that the ministry, in its capacity as a supervisory body, follows up the work of the branches, and every director represents the minister in his region through follow-up and diligent work and using public money and handling administrative matters in a prudent and sound manner. “An employee, who reports to his duty and leaves his workplace during working hours, is eating unlawful money, and how he does he manage to eat and feed his children with this unlawful money,” he said while calling on those who cannot carry out their duties to search for another job.

The minister noted that some employees come at 7 a.m. and leave only at 2:30 p.m., but in Shariah circles, the absence is widespread with poor performance and indifference. “So we must review ourselves with our fear of God and hold ourselves accountable before we are held accountable. The state is strong in its continuous follow-up, and the monitoring agencies are doing their work to the fullest,” he said.

Al-Sheikh denounced that some of the employees in charge of preaching and taking care of the houses of God have a level of indifference. “The ministry receives information from some colleagues immediately about such things and the ministry knows what is happening in a branch more precisely than what the director of the branch knows.”

The minister also criticized the indifference on the part of some of the lazy employees and imams, saying that some of them are in fake jobs while some others live far from the area of their workplace.

Al-Sheikh cautioned that every official, who colluded with a colleague of this type, commit two wrongdoings: The sin of betrayal and the sin of letting his Muslim brother take money unlawfully and doing injustice to others.