We are now deliberating the (honorarium) requirement and mechanismJakarta (ANTARA) - The Religious Affairs Ministry is considering formulating a regulation to standardize the honorarium paid to imams and managers of mosques, an official has confirmed.
"We are now deliberating the (honorarium) requirement and mechanism," the ministry's director of Islamic affairs and sharia guidance, Adib, said here on Friday.
Besides ensuring the smooth running of religious activities at the mosques they manage, imams and mosque managers also play a role in helping maintain religious harmony in society, he added.
According to the official, as improving imams and mosque managers' livelihood is the ministry's concern, the standardization of the honorarium by the ministry is expected to enhance their livelihood and professionalism.
"I believe it is appropriate that the Religious Affairs Ministry consider measures to enhance the livelihood of mosques' imams and managers. So far, they are the ministry's partners in developing a pious and moderate society, as well as maintaining religious harmony," he expounded.
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Meanwhile, an official from the ministry's Sub-directorate for Mosques under the Directorate General of Islamic Community Guidance, Ahmad Zamroni, said that the honorarium for the imams and managers would be funded from three sources: the state budget, regional budget, and the mosques’ monthly income.
The amount of honorarium would depend on the type of mosque, he added.
"(The honorarium will depend) on the mosque type, such as state mosque, great mosque, grand mosque, and jami (congregational) mosque. Apart from the mosque type, the honorarium will also depend on the monthly mosque income," Zamroni explained.
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Earlier, the ministry's director general of Islamic community guidance, Kamaruddin Amin, had highlighted the need for enhancing religious literacy among the managers of mosques to prevent radical thoughts from taking root in mosques.
"While a lot of mosque managers have good, even outstanding, religious literacy, some others have very low religious literacy," Amin noted.
He said that mosque managers have a strategic role in the mosque ecosystem as they determine who will deliver sermons at the mosque and what kind of events are organized at the mosque.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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