Yasser Borhamy, vice president of The Salafist Call dropped his lawsuit against Religious Endowment Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa Monday according to Youm7.
Borhamy filed the suit earlier in 2014 against the minster because of mandated preaching tests in order to obtain a license deliver sermons in mosques. Some hard-line Salafi members were previously banned by the Ministry of Religious Endowment along with any who did not have permission from the ministry to preach.
Former President Adly Mansour adopted a decree June 5 limiting religious preaching at mosques to Al-Azhar scholars authorized by the ministry. The law sets forth a prison term of one to 12 months and a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 EGP ($2,790 to $6,900) for delivering a religious lesson or sermon without a license. The ruling was highly criticized by groups such as the Islamic Current.
Borhamy said in statements reported by Youm7 that the Salafist Call is not in dispute with Endowment Ministry, and had been cooperating with them to face “the risks that threaten the state.”
On Feb. 22 Borhamy along with Younes Makhyon Nour, the Salafi political party head, had their preaching licenses restored by the Ministry of Religious Endowment.
Undersecretary of the ministry for the mosques affairs Mohamed Abd Al-Razeq told Youm7 that both Borhamy and Makhyon came to the ministry where they were obligated to sign a pledge that they would refrain from any political topics in their sermons, nor mention the upcoming elections.
Salafi sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm earlier, that the ministry had allowed number of sheikhs return to the mosques, with the goal to fight extremist thought like that of the Islamic State group.
