Lebanese preachers promote moderate Islam

Mosque preachers and imams in Lebanon have committed to spreading moderate messages in their sermons as a response to regional events and the ensuing rise in extremist trends, senior religious leaders tell Al-Shorfa.

Their sermons call on young Muslims to renounce violence and extremism and follow the path of moderation and co-existence, they said, stressing the crucial role preachers play during Friday prayers in pushing youth to work towards the general good, not only during the month of Ramadan but throughout the year.

Lebanon’s Dar al-Fatwa issued a set of guidelines in February 2015 to unify Friday sermons in mosques, with a focus on renouncing violence and extremism.

The policy calls on preachers and clerics to return to the task of raising awareness and protecting the populace against any form of extremism.

Dar al-Fatwa also has been monitoring its affiliate mosques in an attempt to thwart any potential attempt to recruit youth into the ranks of extremist groups.

A commitment to moderation

"Preachers in mosques across Tripoli and northern [Lebanon] are using a moderate religious rhetoric in adherence to administrative guidelines issued by Dar al-Fatwa," said Sheikh Malek al-Shaar, mufti of Tripoli and northern Lebanon.

"Our Islamic values are based on compassion and kindness towards all people whether they are Muslims or not," he told Al-Shorfa, adding that these values do not change during the month of Ramadan or any other month.

After the latest unrest in Tripoli, "the religious rhetoric became much more moderate and went back to its true spirit", he said. "The religious rhetoric in mosques has come a long way towards calmness and tolerance of others."

"Young people are no longer turning to incendiary sermons. After the violence, everyone realised that what happened was not normal and that they had lost themselves, their families, their brothers and their neighbours," he said.

Some young people are susceptible to bouts of enthusiasm and impulsiveness, he said, and after failing to find a haven of tolerance, mercy and flexibility, will seek preachers who speak to their instincts and fervour.

However, Dar al-Fatwa's efforts to take in these youths and inject moderation into sermons have led to a "resurgence of Islam’s true values", he added.

"We are working on monitoring mosque preachers in order to diffuse this tension and to bring back reason, awareness and moderation," al-Shaar said.

"Anyone that stands at the mosque pulpit is committed to a moderate rhetoric, as required by Dar al-Fatwa," said Sheikh Khalil al-Mais, mufti of Zahle and the Bekaa region and founder of the Azhar al-Bekaa institution.

"While imams and clerics are active in their call to God during Ramadan, we resort to moderate Islamic rationalism and spirituality in all our sermons," he told Al-Shorfa.

Efforts to diffuse tensions

For the past 20 years, Dar al-Fatwa in Zahle and the Bekaa has been holding weekly meetings to instruct clerics to employ moderate rhetoric, al-Mais said, encouraging sermons that call for calm and for the renunciation of violence.

"We also organise theological sessions based upon agreed guidelines of moderation," he said.

Azhar al-Bekaa, established in 1985, teaches its students at the intermediate, secondary and university levels the values of moderate Islam, he said.

"Moderate imams graduate from there to work among youths," he said, adding that they adopt on a daily basis a moderate rhetoric in their sermons.

"There are plenty of mosques whose preachers deliver sermons that calm and diffuse tensions, under the direct guidance of Dar al-Fatwa," Islamist group expert Qassim Qassir told Al-Shorfa.

Friday sermons during the month of Ramadan delivered at Dar al-Fatwa affiliated mosques focus on renouncing violence, he said.

In late 2015, Dar al-Fatwa began working with the Berghof Foundation to enhance religious stability and tolerance, spread a culture of peace in the face of extremism and ensure mosques present a moderate voice, he said.

"Dar al-Fatwa has taken it upon itself to unify Friday sermons and bring preachers into the fold, which gains even more importance during Ramadan," he added.