The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Islamic Call and Guidance is training imams all over the Kingdom in the culture of dialogue to reinforce the initiative of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Tawfeek Al-Sudeiri, Undersecretary for Mosques Affairs, said that the ministry was forging ahead in its training programs for all imams “to reach the conscience of the public through mosques, the first educational school in Islam”. Al-Sudeiri appealed to imams to “follow the Prophet's method in preaching and propagating the noble principles of Islam which the Kingdom applies in all affairs of life”, and urged them to refrain from any behavior that may corrupt those principles and tarnish the image of Islam and Muslims. Other ministries are also involved in the employment of imams, such as the Ministry of Finance which approves their appointments. “There are currently 73,000 mosques across the Kingdom, and 15,000 of them are prayer grounds,” Al
