Former imam of the Grand Mosque and imam of Al-Mahasini Mosque, north east of Riyadh, Sheikh Adel Al-Kalabani, criticized the current sermons in mosques, saying that the content has nothing to do with the official religious establishment.
During a television interview, Al-Kalabani, said that the tone of the religious address should change with the changing times and that “People can’t be expected to wear their prayer attire 24 hours a day.”
Al-Kalabani called on religious callers to be more in sync with the society they live in. “If you call a famous religious scholar, his secretary will answer you, which is not correct,” he said, adding that scholars are only seen on television or during lectures in mosques for a few minutes. “People never really get to know him as a person,” he said.
He stressed that issues to do with women were used as a weapon. “Women are being exploited by two currents: Liberal and Islamic, if we can use the term. Each sees its strength in exploiting female issues.”
He said that some religious scholars ignore important issues because they don’t receive any response to them. “But if they talk about women and hijab (the female face covering), thousands of viewers will call back.”
Al-Kalabani said that the flowery speech of the past used to tell stories is not convincing anymore. “Many of the young listeners want to listen to something they can relate to,” he said.
He pointed out that sometimes these stories may achieve results which may be contradictory to what the religious scholar wants. And sometimes, the religious scholar talks more about himself than about the Prophet, peace be upon him.

SOURCE:     ARABNEWS.COM