Shura Council agrees to separate religion, politics

Manama  : Shura Council gave green signal yesterday to a law proposal which separates religious and political activities.

This comes five days after their fellow MPs in the Parliament passed the same proposal to amend some of the articles of Law 26 of the year 2005 in regards to political societies.

The proposal includes an article stating that “political societies’ heads and leaders shouldn’t be religious preachers, even if they occupy the position in the societies’ without being paid”.

It also stipulates that societies’ members shouldn’t have any religious preaching activities in a bid to completely separate the activities of both fields.

Similarly to the Parliament session last Tuesday, voting on the law proposal was made in the presence of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, who addressed the Council more than one time during the discussion in favour of the proposal.

In the discussion, Shura Council member Adel Al Ma’awda said, “Some political societies’ which are headed by religious scholars control public opinion in the name of faith and religion. Those who oppose to their opinions are categorised as non-believers. They claim that the path to heaven is only through them.”

He added that the proposal doesn’t deprive preachers from working in any other field and passing is necessary to distant religious platforms from sectarian and political conflicts.

Despite some opposing opinions, majority of council members agreed to pass the proposal to amend the law and precise that religion and politics shouldn’t mix. The proposal would be referred to the government for approval.