CAIRO — Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowment Mohammed Gomaa issued a ministerial decision on April 1 changing the name of the Hassan al-Banna Mosque in Nasser, Beni Suef governorate, to Al-Huda Mosque. Banna is the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In March, Gomaa had ordered a month-long survey of mosques and zawyas (small local mosques) bearing the names of certain persons, groups or associations with the intention of replacing those names with others devoid of an ideological bent. A well-informed source at Gomaa's ministry who spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity said that the survey found more than 100 mosques and zawyas named based on a Muslim Brotherhood association or political faction.

The ministry has issued a series of decisions since 2014 aimed at preventing what it views as the political exploitation of mosques and seeks to subject all mosques — including those supervised by the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafist Call (Al-Da'wa Al-Salafiyya) and other organizations — to its direct supervision. In 2014, a decree issued by the government of Adly Mansour prohibited unlicensed preachers from delivering Friday sermons. It also compelled preachers to abide by a unified Friday sermon on predetermined topics or face punishment.

Among the many other mosques likely to be renamed is Al-Hudaibi Mosque, in the center of Shibin al-Qanater, Qalyubia governorate, named after Hassan al-Hudaibi, the second leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was born in that city. Al-Qaradawi Mosque, in Desouq, Kafr al-Sheikh governorate, is named after Yusuf Qaradawi, grand mufti of the Muslim Brotherhood accused of several terrorism-related charges. He fled to Qatar in 2014, when Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president.