Summary
The Gaza branch of a national network of Islamic societies in Mandate Palestine — the Society for Amr bi-l-Ma’ruf wa-l-Nahy ‘an al-Munkar, rendered in English as the “Society for the Preservation of Public Morals” — established on June 3, 1935, at a meeting in the awqaf administration offices in Gaza, which worked by moral authority under the Supreme Muslim Council to police public morals (Governing Gaza, PDF p.212 / printed p.195).
Details
- Established after a call from the first national ‘ulama’ conference, convened by the Supreme Muslim Council, for concerted work on Palestine’s moral terrain; according to Abdul Latif Abu Hashim, the Gaza society was established on June 3, 1935 (PDF p.212 / printed p.195).
- It had no legal authority; its membership was open to conference participants, ‘ulama’ and “every Muslim who follows the righteous path and laudable morals [al-akhlaq al-hamida]”, and the major threats it identified were the sale of land to Zionists, Christian missionary activity, and improper dress and behaviour by Muslims (PDF p.212 / printed p.195).
- Its members preached in villages, challenged government on its biases, complained about permitted immoral behaviours and provided charity; in 1936 it asked the Supreme Muslim Council to be permitted to oversee village preachers and supervise them in an official manner, complaining that many were only interested in receiving their salary and were lazy and negligent about undertaking their holy office (wazifa muqaddasa) correctly (PDF p.213 / printed p.196).
- Its preacher Said Muhammad Allah reported an anti-alcohol preaching visit to Simsim on February 10, 1936, after which the village mukhtars swore on the Qur’an to inform on anyone practising such things to the society president or the police (PDF p.214 / printed p.197).
- Its petition against Fahmi Hakura’s alcohol permit was refused by the high commissioner, who held among other things that “the store is on a main street in Gaza where a lot of non-Muslims live” and many nearby mosques “were built after the store” (PDF p.215 / printed p.198).
- Against missionary schools it petitioned the Gaza mayor and the director of education for public kindergartens and addressed parents in Friday sermons and home visits; against land sales it used private interventions and delegations, using “sweet speech and logic”, rather than the press’s public shaming of sellers and simsars (brokers) (PDF p.216 / printed p.199).
Related pages
Governing Gaza, Supreme Muslim Council, Community services, Gaza