FRANCE 24
A preacher in front of a school in the city of Sousse
In front of schools, on buses or in public squares, and for several months now, a new phenomenon has been spreading across Tunisia: religious preachers. Whether they are originally from Tunisia or come from the Gulf States, more and more of them are using public spaces to promote their vision of religion.
The internet is awash with their videos, and there are pages on social media devoted to their beliefs. These preachers, whose messages can more or less be considered as radical, are imams who venture out from mosques to preach on the streets and call on people to “return to God’s path”. With microphones and loudspeakers in hand, they improvise sermons in ‘conversion tents’, or out on the street.
This form of public preaching is new to Tunisia, where the regime of former dictator Ben Ali outlawed any political or religious gatherings not organised by the government. There is no law banning or regulating preachers in public spaces. However, the authorities need to be notified of any public gathering before they are held. Lotfi Hidouri from the public communications office of the Interior Ministry told FRANCE 24 the ministry is aware of the phenomenon. However, he declined to say whether the ministry authorised gatherings held recently.
Contributors
Messaoud Romdhani
“People are often intimidated and don’t dare confront them”
“People here have been so deprived of freedom for so many years that, today, they have a poor understanding of freedom of expression and how to express this, sometimes confusing it with anarchy. But being free doesn’t mean having the right to say anything you want to say, wherever and whichever way you want!
“These practices are being encouraged by the wave of preachers visiting Tunisia from the Gulf or the Middle East. Even though some of them have extremist views, these foreign imams often come to Tunisia with the blessing of the government or the Islamist party Ennahda, the party in power, which accommodate and welcome them.”
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