HIBAPRESS – Mohamed Manfalouti
Please have mercy on the imams of the mosques from the memorizers of the Book of God stationed in the front lines, resisting pressure and whispers, focusing on the ambiguous and taking into account the conditions of the people behind them, including the weak, the sick and those in need…
These are scenes of what resembles hidden conflicts between some worshipers, may God forgive them, in the face of some religious figures, especially during this holy month, which is supposed to be a month of mercy, forgiveness, harmony, compassion and cooperation, instead of tracking down mistakes and falling into errors from their own people, where we find people, may God forgive them, who do not even bother to hold back their tongues from disturbance and empty criticisms in matters that are far from them and have nothing to do with them, nor do they even have the right to evaluate the performance of the imams as long as there are official bodies that take care of the religious sector and are responsible for evaluating the work of the religious figures.
And we all live on the blessings of this holy month, the month of mercy, forgiveness, and freedom from the Fire, a month in which spending in the way of God increases, in which the devils are shackled, the doors of the Fire are closed, and the doors of Paradise are opened by the One, the Judge, the Creator of the universe.
A month in which the servant turns to his Lord in piety, fasting, prayer and standing, a month in which the mosques are filled with the guests of the Most Merciful, in which the call to prayer is raised and the tables of the Most Merciful are set for breaking the fast in the way of the Living, the Giver of life,…
It is the month of Ramadan, in which the servants of the Most Merciful hasten towards the mosques to perform the Tarawih prayer in an atmosphere of humility and tranquility and to provide spiritual and devotional security, so the squares and courtyards are filled to the brim, and many worshipers rush to choose the most prominent voices for reciters and memorizers of the Book of God, to perform the prayer behind them and travel with them in a divine atmosphere filled with humility and contemplation of its verses.
These imams, the memorizers of the Book of God, these religious figures, are, in the end, our brothers from among our own people, we must all offer them a helping hand and kindness, and not contribute to confusing them and disturbing them as some do who stand behind them in the rows during prayer…
These imams, you find them all day preparing themselves to perform the Tarawih prayer, and as soon as the fast is broken, they eat a little to maintain their lightness and readiness to perform the prayer in the best way and in the most complete condition…
Then, in the end, come some critics who are looking for slips, mistakes and tracking down nakedness, to create confusion and disturbance for the worshipers…this is the state of his tongue, saying: What is wrong with this imam, he is taking too long, and this one says what is wrong with him, he is shortening, and this one says what is wrong with this imam, he is making a lot of mistakes, what is wrong with him, he is forgetting…." You find them whispering in the doorways of the mosques.
To these, we stand and say: Be kind to the Tarawih imams…they are our brothers and the burden on them is heavy…
These are manifestations that would affect the normal flow inside the houses of the Most Merciful and disrupt the performance of the religious figures who find themselves in front of a barrage of criticisms and excessive advice from worshipers and regular visitors, especially from those in the front rows, where some of them tend to persist in their criticisms and verbal attacks with a taste of whispering and gossiping and gathering the largest alliance against a specific imam on the grounds that he has prolonged the reading, and when the poor man (the imam) responds to them, other opposing voices rise "What is wrong with this imam, he is no longer taking long, what is wrong with him, he is only reading short surahs…", while other voices rise saying: "What is wrong with him, he forgot, what is wrong with him, he added a rak'ah, what is wrong with him, he added a prostration…" within continuous criticisms that sometimes confuse even the imam himself, who finds himself in an unenviable position that may distract his mind while reciting the Book of God in front of crowds of worshipers…and if the poor imam speaks or complains, a complaint is filed against him or a telephone call is made to some of his officials to get at him…
