Dozens of preachers from the Religious Endowments Ministry staged a protest on Sunday in front of the Egyptian parliament, demanding that their economic status be improved.
The demonstrators also demanded to be given the same pay as preachers from Al-Azhar and government employees.
The preachers are not hired by the ministry and are paid to act as part-time representatives of the ministry in mosques countrywide.
This comes as part of the ministry’s policy to limit acts of proselytism and preaching to its employees.
During the protest, the demonstrators called on Religious Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa to resign. They added that they are supporting the regime and its leadership, but refuse their current economic status.
This is not the first time preachers or workers from the ministry stage protests demanding the improvement of their economic status, with no response from officials.
Strikes in Egypt—usually dispersed by force or by threat of suspension—have acted as a main source of opposition to different governments.
Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Ministry of Religious Endowments has been a vocal supporter of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and has been given the responsibility of preventing anti-government preachers from holding sermons in mosques.
