Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has announced that foreign teachers have been arranged for seven islands that lacked Quran teachers. The Minister made the statement while speaking at a ceremony held to handover the development of a mosque in Maalhos, Alifu Alifu Atoll to the Road Development Corporation Limited (RDC).
Addressing at the ceremony, the Minister highlighted the government’s commitment to ensuring that Quran education is accessible to all communities. He said the government now designs mosques such that it can be used for multiple purposes such as spreading Islamic knowledge and teaching Quran.
The Minister acknowledged several islands continue to express concern about the lack of Quran teaching facilities on their islands. Emphasising that a Muslim community must have facilities to teach the Holy Quran, the Minister said the Ministry has arranged foreign teachers for islands which lacked teachers to teach Quran.
“Our aim is to facilitate the courses of the Centre of Holy Quran in the mosques that we are developing. The Maalhos Mosque will also have classrooms dedicated for Quran teaching and a small library,” the Minister said.
Speaking at the ceremony, RDC’s Managing Director, Brigadier General Retired Ali Zhuhai said the corporation’s aim to is complete the project at the earliest to ensure that the people of Maalhos can benefit from it promptly.
“The assurance I want to give today is that the practical work of this project will kick off over the next two months, with the aim to complete construction within 1.5 years,” Zuhair stated.
The mosque in Maalhos is designed to accommodate 500 worshippers, with classrooms for teaching Quran as well as a small library.
In addition to government initiatives, private citizens as well as businesses are also contributing to building mosques across the Maldives. The Islamic Ministry has received requests from 42 islands to build mosques on the islands.