CAIRO — Continuing its efforts to separate church and state, Egypt has banned its imams from preaching in mosques while running for political office, a move that is stirring controversy among officials, legal experts and, of course, imams.

The Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments) issued a statement Aug. 24 that read: “In order to prevent mosques from being used as political platforms, the ministry shall ban all preachers running for parliamentary elections from delivering sermons or religious lectures in mosques starting the first day they announce their nomination until the completion of the election process, so as to prevent them from promoting themselves or others through the use of religion for electoral interests.”

The ministry went further, deciding to “irrevocably strip its leaders who decide to run for elections of their leadership position and privileges within the ministry.”

All ministry employees must secure formal permits before they will be allowed to submit nomination papers to the electoral committee. “In the event its employees nominated themselves without prior permission, they will be referred to investigation and suspended from working [in mosques] until the completion of the interrogation, knowing that [they] will not be granted permits until the completion of the electoral process.”