HM the King Inaugurates Extension Project of Mohammed VI Institute for Imams Training
HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, inaugurated, Friday in Rabat university campus, the extension project of the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates (religious preachers).
On this occasion, minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, made a speech before the Sovereign in which he stressed that this project takes place in accordance with the high royal instructions on the expansion of the Institute's reception capacity in order to better respond to the growing demands of several Friendly and brotherly countries.
This third extension, carried out by the ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs for a total amount of 165 million dirhams, covers an area of 10,000 m2, and includes a pedagogical space with a capacity of 640 seats, a large amphitheater with 1,100 seats, and a residential space of 350 beds, the minister said.
On this occasion, Toufiq recalled that Imams from foreign countries follow either basic or short-term training, noting that the Institute has hosted students from Mali, Guinea Conakry, Côte-d’Ivoire, Tunisia, France, Nigeria and Chad.
"The number of the Institute’s graduates from these countries has so far reached 712 imams and preachers," the minister said, adding that 35 Imams from Guinea, 33 French Imams, 107 Imams from Niger, 79 Chadians Imams and 37 Tunisian Imams had benefited from short training courses for Imams serving in mosques.
Toufiq added that 778 foreign students are currently pursuing their studies at the Institute, stressing that the duration of the training takes into consideration the educational level of the candidates, especially in terms of their mastery of the Arabic language.
According to him, every year the Institute receives 150 Moroccan students, who have obtained their bachelor's degree with honors, and who memorize the Holy Quran in its entirety, for a 12-month training, enabling them to become Imams preachers who assist other Imams in the exercise of their duties.
It also receives students with the same academic profiles who memorize a good part of the Holy Quran for a training spread over the same period and following the same program in order to make them preachers within mosques and within the various academic and social institutions, with the aim of promoting the true precepts of Islam.
Toufiq said that according to directions of HM the King, supreme chief and general chief of staff of the Royal Armed Forces, a special department was set up within the Institute. This department, he added, receives one hundred students, responsible for the religious supervision of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the Royal Armed Forces.
On this occasion, HM the King awarded diplomas to 18 graduates of the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates "2016 year group ", from Côte d'Ivoire, France, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Chad and Morocco.
MAP : 19/10/2017