Minister of Home Affairs and the Head of Adhaalath Party Sheikh Imran Abdullah has said that Islam does not prohibit religious clerics (leaders) from engaging in political debates and discussions.

Yesterday, in a tweet, the Sheikh, explained that religious leaders must not deviate from the perimeters of religious knowledge if they were to engage in such discourses.

Even though the Sheikh did not tell why he wrote the tweet that way, it is believed that he was responding to the rules - published on Saturday, surrounding the presidential election.

The set of rules published by the Elections Commission of Maldives, clearly state what religious topics should be avoided in religious lectures and other religious discourses during the period of the presidential election.

The rules say that a given presidential candidate or a political party, should not be promoted in public sermons, religious ceremonies and or other public religious lectures. Also, according to the rules, such discourses should not be targeted to damage a certain candidate or a political party.

During the times of previous elections, many candidates had been targeted by religious discourses resulting in severe damages to them, believe many.