YNET NEWS: Group of 109 Jordanian scholars, clerics also want 'laws that fight all anti-Islamic acts'
Dozens of Muslim scholars are demanding the closure of nightclubs and discotheques in Jordan, saying such entertainment erodes the nation's morals.
Jordan's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has made such demands in the past. However, Wednesday's call was joined by dozens of independent clergymen, a sign that the idea is becoming more popular in Muslim circles.
The appeal is not binding for Jordan's pro-Western government which says nightclubs and discos are necessary to maintain a flow of foreign tourists, a key source of revenue.
"We demand the government close all nightclubs, which work under the pretext of promoting tourism," 109 clerics, among them a former cabinet minister, MPs, Islamist leaders, university professors and mosque preachers, said in the joint statement.
"We also demand the authorities combat prostitution and brothels, and introduce laws that fight all anti-Islamic and unethical acts which destroy our society," the statement said. >>> News agencies | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
