Congregation performs prayers in front of coffeehouse to protest imam

SAKARYA – Demirören News Agency

The residents of the Müezzinler neighborhood of the northwestern province of Sakarya have performed a night prayer with the congregation in front of a local coffeehouse in protest at the imam of their local mosque.

Accusing the imam of behaving rudely and insulting them, the locals asked the provincial office of mufti to replace the imam.

Speaking on behalf of the congregation, Saffet Kansu, the local head (muhtar) of the village, said they will not go to the mosque unless the imam is replaced. “We will gather in front of the coffeehouse and perform our prayers there until he is gone,” said the muhtar.

According to the locals, problems between the imam and the residents had been going on for a long time.

“One day he asked me what I was doing at the mosque during a morning prayer, and I said, ‘Pray? What else could I be doing?’ His reaction was unreasonable. I don’t want him in my village,” said Nuhal Altay, a local.

Halil İbrahim Gül, an elderly of the village, also complained about the imam’s behavior.

“I went to a Friday prayer. He displayed bad behavior to an elderly friend next to me. I won’t pray behind such an imam,” said Gül.

The locals await a decision to be made by the provincial office of the mufti to remove the imam from the post.