Some 375 books authored by writers allegedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood were seized in Delta’s Kafr el-Sheikh over “inciting violence and extremism,” Undersecretary of Awqaf (Religious Endowment) Ministry Saad el-Fekki told Youm7 Wednesday.
The seized books were collected from all the mosques in the governorate, which fall under the supervision of the ministry.
Among the authors of the banned books are: Egyptian Islamist scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar and listed on Interpol’s wanted list on several accusations. Another author is Mohamed Salim el-Awa, an Islamist thinker and a 2011 presidency candidate.
There have been similar attempts to ban some books written by Islamists at schools and libraries.
In April, a head of a Giza directorate was sent to investigations over burning allegedly “violent Islamist” books at school.
Later, the Education Ministry criticized the act of burning books, and announced a campaign to review books at 83 schools previously identified as affiliated with the Brotherhood and filter those proved advocating violence.
Another incident took place in August 2014 when 36 books allegedly promoting Brotherhood thoughts were burnt in Hurghada.
The Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist organization in December 2013, since then, most of its leaders have either landed behind bars or fled abroad. Per the law, members, supporters or sympathizers of the Brotherhood can be arrested, and all activities of the group are banned, and its assets were confiscated by the government.
In an attempt to prevent use of mosques as platforms for political purposes or preaching radical Islam, the Endowment Ministry decided to unify Friday prayer speeches at all mosques nation-wide.
Accordingly, the ministry publishes a monthly release on its website with the title and the details of the subject of each week’s sermon.
