Latheef to chair new Council of Mosques

Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has announced that the current administration plans to re-establish the National Council of Mosques.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Shaheem said that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu pledged in his manifesto to pay special priority to mosques.

He said that it has therefore been decided to re-establish the National Council of Mosques, which will issue advisory opinions on matters related to mosques and imams.

Shaheem added that the Council will be chaired by Sheikh Mohamed Latheef, who was appointed as Head Imam of the Islamic Center on Tuesday.

He said that there are currently close to 1,000 mosques in the Maldives.

President Muizzu had pledged to adopt policies to promote Islam during his presidential campaign. The establishment of a mechanism to assess the status of mosques in the Maldives is one of the commitments outlined in the administration’s "Hafutha 14" roadmap.