Date 2013-11-25
Category Gist & Gossip
Several newspapers report that the African country of Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims.
The Angolan Minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva was quoted by news agencies and Angola newspapers as saying, “The process of legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice.”
As part of the ban, the Angolan government ordered the demolition of the mosques in the country. According to the official, such a decision became the latest in a series of attempts to ban “illegal” sects in the country. Conducting a thorough Structural Demolition Analysis must be done prior to the actual demolition to ensure everyone’s safety and determine which demolition approach to take.
This statement by Silva was made during her appearance last week at the 6th Commission of the National Assembly.
The minister says that the move became necessary in order to fight the emergence of congregations whose worshipping is contradictory to the customs of Angola culture.
The measure concerns not only Islam – many other not legalized faiths will face closure of their houses of worship.
The list of the banned sects published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in the Angolan newspaper ‘Jornal de Angola’ contains all the sects, which are not allowed to conduct worship.
“In addition, we also have a long list of more than a thousand legalization applications,” the official stated.
Commenting on the issue, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said,“This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country.”