Abdelkarim Al-Ansi: The Houthis Exploit Mosques to Advance Their Sectarian Agenda Ahead of Ramadan

23rd February 2025

3 minutes read

Abdelkarim Al-Ansi: The Houthis Exploit Mosques to Advance Their Sectarian Agenda Ahead of Ramadan

The Houthi militia continues to escalate its exploitation of mosques in areas under its control in Yemen as part of a systematic plan to use places of worship to promote its sectarian ideology, particularly with the approach of Ramadan.

According to local sources, the group has intensified its activities inside mosques, imposing sermons and religious lessons with an ideological tone that serves its agenda. It has also removed non-loyal imams and preachers, forcing those who remain to propagate its slogans and encourage worshippers to participate in various activities, including recruitment campaigns and fundraising efforts.

Human rights reports indicate that the Houthis have transformed many mosques into centers for sectarian mobilization and indoctrination, sparking widespread discontent among religious and social circles and raising concerns about increasing sectarian polarization during the holy month.

This escalation is part of the Houthis‘ broader efforts to impose their ideological dominance on Yemeni society, using religious platforms as a tool to consolidate their influence and reinforce their political and sectarian rhetoric.

Yemeni political analyst Abdelkarim Al-Ansi has warned against the continued exploitation of mosques and religious events by the Houthi militia to advance its sectarian agenda in Yemen. He stressed that the group is turning places of worship into platforms for spreading its ideology and recruiting more fighters, posing a serious threat to social cohesion and religious unity in the country.

Al-Ansi explained that the Houthis intensify their activities within mosques as Ramadan approaches, coercing imams and preachers into delivering sermons aligned with the group’s ideology. Any opposition to this directive is met with severe punishment, ranging from imprisonment and exile to, in some cases, physical elimination.

He added that the militia is not only enforcing religious sermons that align with its beliefs but is also converting mosques into centers of political mobilization, using pulpits to incite against its adversaries and organizing donation drives under various pretexts—funds that are ultimately directed toward its war efforts.

Al-Ansi also highlighted that the Houthis use mosques as a means to impose their ideological vision on Yemeni society, taking advantage of major religious occasions such as Ramadan to tighten their grip on the religious sphere while exploiting people’s spiritual needs. He warned that these practices pose a serious threat to Yemen’s religious coexistence, where different sects and religious currents had peacefully coexisted for decades.

He explained that these actions are not random but part of a systematic strategy aimed at erasing Yemen’s pluralistic religious identity and replacing it with a sectarian identity that aligns with the Houthis’ agenda. These policies, he warned, would deepen internal divisions and fuel future sectarian conflicts.

According to Al-Ansi, Ramadan, traditionally a time of unity and tolerance among Muslims, has become in Houthi-controlled areas a season for intensified sectarian polarization. Worshippers are forced to attend imposed sermons and religious lectures that propagate Houthi ideology and promote hostility toward other political forces in Yemen.

He called on the international community and human rights organizations to take a clear stance against these practices, emphasizing that global silence allows the Houthis to continue their sectarian project unchecked. He also urged Yemen’s national and social forces to unite to counter this scheme and restore mosques to their true role, free from political exploitation and military recruitment.

Finally, Al-Ansi concluded by emphasizing that the fight against the Houthi project is not merely a military confrontation but also an intellectual, cultural, and religious battle. He called for a comprehensive national effort to preserve Yemen’s tolerant religious identity and prevent the militia from imposing its exclusive ideology by force.