: In The US, Imams Do More Than Just Lead Prayers

Tradionally, imams have had only one duty – to lead prayer – and usually the person in the room who knows the most Qur’an stepped up to the plate. But in the US, imams are finding themselves called upon to be everything from a counselor to media spokesperson. To that end, Muslim institutions are trying to organize training sessions to make sure that today’s imams can meet the unique needs of American Muslims. ”You are at a crossroads,” said Muslim political scientist Muqtedar Khan to an audience of US imams at one such gathering. Imams need to decide ”whether you’re going to end up becoming office managers at the masjid or becoming leaders of your community.” Without standardized training for imams in the US (rather than importing them as has been done in the past), some Muslim leaders fear that the community will splinter into small groups. ”We don’t want the Muslims to end up with 700 determinations of Islam,” said Florida imam (and trainer) Muhammad Musri.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.