CASABLANCA – A leading Moroccan opposition party slammed Saturday, January 20, a new law adopted by parliament, which it says restricts mosque construction and discourages benefactors from building new places of worship.
"We have abstained from voting on the law and voiced deep reservations as it will have negative repercussions," Leader of the parliamentary bloc of the Justice and Development (PJD) party Habib al-Shobani told IslamOnline.net.
"The state is the big loser of such a law," added Shobani, whose party is the third-largest bloc in the 325-member parliament.
With 60 percent of mosques in Morocco being built by funds raised by charities, there will not be enough mosques in the future, under the new law, to accommodate the growing population, he warned.
Under the law, which was adopted in parliament on Monday, January 15, mosque fund-raisers must register with an authorized civil society.
It further gives governors the sole authority to issue construction licenses.
The new law covers not only mosques, but rather all places of worship including prayer rooms and mausoleums.
Shobani said the new law is unnecessary.
"We have repeatedly clarified that a law adopted in 1984 covers all aspects that regulate the construction of places of worship," he noted.
"Although we support new laws aiming to enhance transparency in managing public property, the law will have negative impacts on the charity activities."
There are 40,626 mosques and 10,987 prayer rooms in Morocco, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
"Non-Peaceful Purposes"
But the government argues that the new law is targeting terrorists who use religion and mosques as a cover to raise funds for their underground activities.
Minister of Religious Affairs Ahmad Tawfiq has said the law would thwart any attempt to take advantage of mosques for "non-peaceful purposes."
"The law further is regulating the construction process in the civilized kingdom and puts an end to squatter buildings," he said.
Tawfiq denied that the law was the result of external pressures for security reasons.
But Shobani begged to differ.
"Following the September 11 attacks in the United States, Muslim countries have come under backbreaking political and military pressures from the West to crack down on Islamic charities, which are a main contributor to the construction of mosques," he said.
Analysts say the new law is part of state measures to tighten the noose around the Islamic movements, especially after the 2002 Casablanca blasts, which killed 41 people.
The measures are basically focused on places of worship and curricula.
The PJD had announced that 48 of its imams were banned from preaching at mosques by authorities.
In October, the Ministry of Education omitted from preparatory school curricula a Qur'anic verse, hadith and a photo of a hijab-clad girl, claiming that it moved to nip extremism in the bud.
Last year, the ministry pressed for abolishing the Islamic studies subjects from the science section of high school syllabus.
It further proposed removing any references to "jihad" in the Islamic subjects.