9 Ways to Expand the Role of Imams in America

Developing Sustainable Educational Resources

Imams’ (in addition to their traditional roles) primary purpose should be to develop sustainable educational and human resources in our communities. What does this mean? This means helping develop leaders in our masjid in the form of future scholars/imams, chaplains, hufadh (memorizers of the Quran), khateebs (speakers for jummah), tajweed and Arabic teachers and Islamic school teachers.

Developing these resources in the community offloads some of the stress on imams to perform all those duties. It also helps build sustainability in a masjid. Imams should also develop educational resources in the form of books, textbooks, reputable online resources and other literature that meets the needs of the local community. For example, if the issue of domestic violence is prevalent in an imam’s community, the imam should focus on developing resources to educate the community about domestic violence from an Islamic perspective. This could be in the form of a video lecture, book, booklet, brochure or collection of online resources on the topic as well as information on how to seek help.

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