Addressing the people of Kinolhas of Raa Atoll, President Mohamed Nasheed asserted that Maldivian Islamic scholars had more freedom than scholars in any other Muslim country.
The President underscored that government wanted to foster an environment where Islamic scholars could freely preach and counsel the people on religious matters.
He also noted that Maldivians have been practicing Islam for about a thousand years, and there would be no other country where Islamic law, Islamic principles and Islamic culture had survived intact for such a long period of time.
Recalling the Islamic history, the President noted that the main catalyst of the golden age of Islamic civilization ushered under Abbasid Caliphate was the freedom enjoyed by the people.
Speaking in this regard, the President said the Islamic civilization could not revive without freeing the people and giving them a broader outlook of the world.
In his address to the people of Kinolhas this afternoon, the President said Kinolhas was one of the most notable islands in the history of the country, and historic evidence suggested that during 1400s the island had 40 mosques.