In Algeria, women 'imams' battle evil

Hundreds of female religious guides have been at the forefront of Algeria's battle against Islamic radicalisation since the civil war that devastated the North African country in the 1990s.

Their aim is to steer women away from false preachers promoting radical forms of Islam.

The surge of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, and even in Libya next door, as well as the growing influence of al-Qaeda-linked militants and Salafists, has them working around the clock.

Known as "mourshidates," their goal is to spread the good word of Islam and a message of tolerance, helping those who have strayed from it.

"Killing is a capital sin, so how is it that people can kill innocent ones in the name of Islam," asks Fatma Zohra, who is in her mid-40s, her hair and neck concealed under a matching purple veil and a hijab.

Like the other 300 mourshidates appointed by the religious affairs ministry, Zohra holds a degree in Islam and has learned the Quran by heart.

For the past 17 years she has been "listening to women, advising them and referring them to specialists" when their problems are not directly linked to religion.

The mourshidates use skills borrowed from psychology and sociology, working in mosques, prisons, youth centres, hospitals and schools. Unlike imams, who are men, they are not allowed to lead prayers.

When the first mourshida was licensed in 1993 to teach and guide women, only housewives showed up, but the audience has grown over the years to include university students and professionals.

Samia, another mourshida who decline to give her surname, says she has been working for the past 15 years in a region of Algeria where youths, both boys and girls, have been increasingly radicalised.

"Pseudo-imams, who know nothing about the teachings of the Koran," are trying to indoctrinate people through television programmes and the Internet, she said.

Like Samia, many mourshidates say they are proud to have contributed to help youths from falling into the grips of radical Islamists.

"It is the biggest reward of our work," one of them said.