Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Islamic Call and Guidance, has said that the ministry is still continuing its training of imams, deliverers of sermons and muezzins through its Caring for Mosques and their Staff Program. The program, which began six years ago, he said, has made great improvements in the standard of imam, khateeb (Friday sermon speaker) and muezzins, but would require further time given that mosque staff in the Kingdom number in their thousands. Aal Al-Sheikh said: “We have a two-strategy program to train and rehabilitate those who do not meet the required standards. The first strategy is from within the ministry where courses are given by its scholars and preachers to others on how to give speeches and ways of treating others. “The second strategy comes via training and rehabilitation courses in specialized institutes outside the ministry.” Aal Al-Sheikh said that the ministry does not appoint preachers who have not reached a university level of education or have not graduated from Shariah colleges. He said that the ministry gives a degree of freedom to khateebs to approach contemporary topics within the set parameters. This would include not slandering any person, institution or state. “Every khateeb,” he said, “knows full well what should and should not be said.” __
