This is officially an award-winning blog
Best group blog: "Witty and insightful, the Edge of the American West puts the group in group blog, with frequent contributions from an irreverent band.... Always entertaining, often enlightening, the blog features snazzy visuals—graphs, photos, videos—and zippy writing...."
3 comments
July 29, 2010 at 11:03 am
ben
Does one need any formal qualifications to become an imam? I take it the answer is “no”, given the line about the origins of most of the contestants. (Broader conclusion: I don’t really know what the role of an imam is.)
July 29, 2010 at 1:47 pm
NM
I don’t think there’s a formal requirement built in, since there’s no real institutional hierarchy. (That is, there’s no structure the way Catholics or various denominations have.) In the US, it varies a lot by community. ISNA has a set of guidelines:
1. Adequate knowledge of fiqh to teach and counsel the community on matter of fiqh. This should include general awareness of the differences of opinions and practices among different school of fiqh.
2. Comprehensive understanding of Islam
3. Memorized several small and medium surahs of the Qur’an to be able to lead jama’ah prayers.
4. Masters tajwid rules to ensure correct recitation of the Qur’an.
5. Adequate knowledge of the Sirah of the Prophet, and acquainted with hadith and its collection and usage.
6. Effective English Communication Skills.
7. Training in interfaith relations and is able to introduce Islam to people of other faiths.
8. Trained in family counseling.
9. Trained and have experience in delivering the Jum’ah Khutbah.
And of course all the stuff you need to run a religious community day to day. Funerals, counseling, that sort of thing.
August 3, 2010 at 6:37 am
niger sum sed formosus
Mildly amusing fact: in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and possibly other Slavic languages, “Imam Muda” means “I’ve got balls”