Will northern Sinai’s new cultural centers promote moderate Islam?

CAIRO — The high demand for Islamic cultural centers in the conservative northern Sinai Peninsula prompted the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) to open more centers to teach moderate Islam in this volatile governorate, a high-level ministry official told Al-Monitor.

Gaber Taye, head of the religion sector in the Ministry of Religious Endowments, told Al-Monitor that the opening of three Islamic cultural centers at the beginning of the school year was “an unprecedented step in North Sinai,” a governorate where the Egyptian army and security forces struggle to purge the area of the Islamic State and its affiliates.

“It is also the first time that three Islamic cultural centers open in a single governorate. The centers are located in the cities of el-Arish, Bir al-Abed and Hasna,” Taye said, adding that the ministry had planned for 30 students for each center. “But we have had [a total of ] 300 requests for enrollment in the governorate,” he added.

Northern Sinai is seen as a hub of violent religious extremist groups, which prompted the Ministry of Religious Endowments to open the Islamic cultural centers — also known as Awqaf centers — to offer a curriculum based on moderate Islamic teachings. The centers opened on Sept. 22, at the beginning of the school year. The opening of the three cultural centers — and promise of new ones — when there is only one center in each governorate shows the government’s intensified efforts to counter radicalism in northern Sinai. Classes at the centers are free of charge and admission is easier compared to the cultural centers in other governorates. The move comes at the same time as major development projects in the region and an intensified military operation.against terrorism.