Supreme Religious Council losing conservative grip

What evoked the ire of the Supreme Council to struck down Dr. Afrashim Ali , a Maldivian scholar from preaching was mysterious to me until I read this article.

Now we know that the Supreme Council has worked up a residency law that imposes a residency requirement of one year before a preacher is allowed to preach. What could be the purpose of this law?

The Government's Information Minister has promised to defy the Government’s own highest religious authority by allowing the moderate preacher Dr Afrashim Ali to appear on state broadcaster TVM.

We need the silent liberal voices in Maldives to support the view that the Information Minister has boldly taken on this case. For far too long, the liberals have allowed the conservatives to go unchallenged, thus emboldening extremist and intolerant thinking in the name of religion. The liberal scholars need to take the lead to espouse moderate views creating a culture of acceptance and tolerance as good Muslims should be doing.

As an institution, the current Supreme Council has failed to maintain religious unity, i.e, if the word 'failure' appears in their dictionary. On their watch fanatical groups fostered in Male and elsewhere and they could not stop extremist groups from taking the law into their own hands in Hinmadhoo in the name of practising their religion.

For the foot soldiers to be united in diversity, there must be unity of tolerance among the scholars and preachers. Unity in Diversity means to explore and enhance common values that emphasize interdependence, equality, justice, human rights, and the sanctity of each individual’s dignity. The religious conservatives must be willing to coalesce with their liberal counterparts to build a more inclusive community and support the diversity of religious opinions without insisting adherence to dogmatic views.