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CAIRO (AFP) - A graduate of Cairo's Al-Azhar University has opened an anonymous telephone hotline on Islam to answer queries on subjects varying from worshipping practices to sex and marriage. Sheikh Khaled al-Gindi said that most of the callers using the line since it entered service on August 25th have been youths eager to know Islam's views on their sexual lives, apostasy, marriage and prayer. "Although it's independent of Al-Azhar, the line aims to complement the institution for a public anxious to stay anonymous," he said, adding that he has received around 1,500 calls. Islam encourages sexual intercourse for pleasure and procreation between married couples, but forbids extramarital indulgence. But callers cannot ask questions directly to Sheikh Khaled or his three colleagues, all graduates of Cairo's 1,000-year old Al-Azhar institution, the highest authority for the world's Sunni Muslims. Callers leave their questions on an answer machine and are given a code, which they dial into the system the following day to receive their pre-recorded response. "Its a kind of psychotherapy" which allows Muslims "to learn more about their religion by modern means," said Sheikh Khaled. |
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