Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak has approved monthly honoraria for Imams of Jamia Mosques all over the province. The government has laid down certain guiding principles for the award of Rs 10000/- per month honoraria to the Imams of Jamia mosques throughout the province. The Imams of the mosques under the laid down procedure should be the citizen of Pakistan and qualified from the recognized boards for religious education.
Decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in a meeting at Chief Minister House Peshawar. It was attended by Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah, Minister for Auqaf Haji Habibur Rehman, Chief Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan, Secretary Auqaf Hidayatullah, Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Syed Shahab Ali Shah and other concerned authorities.
Chief Minister in his brief remarks said that his government had made up its mind to formulate a policy with religious spirit to look after the Imams of mosques to take care of their families and their needs by themselves. It was the government responsibility to look after them and this is what the new policy will ensure. The basic aim of the policy is to give the Paish Imams an enabling environment to be dedicated to the cause of religion, thus serving the nation in a better way.
He directed the Finance Department to arrange funds for honoraria and move a summary to put on ground the new mechanism immediately. He said it was not denying the fact that Imams of Masajid always played pivotal role in promotion of the religious education, looking after the needs of the mosques including the conduction of five times prayers and Juma Prayers. Their absolute devotion legitimizes their own look after by the government and this step is exactly in lines to enhance their esteem in the society.
Meanwhile, clerics of district Hangu Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have rejected the offer of provincial government of PTI about fixing honoraria to the Paesh Imams (prayer leaders) and termed it as foreign sponsored conspiracy to purchase loyalties of clerics.
This was stated by JUI-F affiliated clerics including Maulana Mufti Deen Azhar Haqqani, Mufti Sardar, Maulana Hameed Shah, Maulana Naseeb Jan and other Ulema while addressing an emergency meeting here on Tuesday. They accused PTI government of being working as stooge of the foreign anti-Islamic elements and said that loyalties of Ulema can not be bought or influenced by these sorts of tactics. They contended that if the KP government was so interested in welfare of the clerics then the people who mattered should send their own children to seminaries for Islamic education instead of sending them for studies abroad.
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