JEDDAH, 3 March 2007 — Perhaps one of the most honorable jobs in Islam is the job of a mosque imam. However, many Saudis complain of a growing number of incompetent foreigners taking over mosques across the Kingdom and then being unable to fulfill the role of the imam in a correct and professional manner.
“Some of the men who carry out the call to prayer are not Arab. They muddle the pronunciation of words. For instance, they may add the letter ‘wa’ in Allahu Akbar to sound like ‘Allahu Wa Akbar.’ They may substitute the ‘sh’ sound with a ‘s’ in the line that reads ‘Ash’hadu An La Ilah Illallah’ to become ‘As’adu An La Ilah Illallah’ and so on,” said Thamer Al-Otaibi, a concerned citizen.
Al-Otaibi believes that many imams assign laypeople to carry out the calls to prayer and that the majority of such people chosen are unqualified and oblivious of the correct rules of tajwid (intonation) and makharij (points of articulation).
Al-Otaibi, like many others, believes that the imams are simply concerned with earning a monthly salary than aiming to provide a social and religious service.
Some complain that many imams fail to devote their time and effort to their flock and hire foreign helpers, mostly non-Arabs, to lead prayers and deliver the call to prayer. “Imams tend to do this because most of them work in mosques located away from their homes. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs must act firmly in dealing with imams who violate rules,” Najeh Al-Shamry said.
Sheikh Khaled Al-Khayat, imam and preacher at Al-Rahma Mosque in Jeddah, says Saudi imams tend to delegate work to other people as they have other engagement and are unable to give their complete time and attention to the mosque duty.
“This is very shameful and I hope this does not continue. There is no need to employ a full time imam — most full time imams tend to be unqualified. Having a qualified imam is more important than having a full time one,” said Al-Khayat.
Al-Khayat added that imams needed to address own weaknesses before having members of their congregation point fingers at them. “An imam is a role model for the people in his area to follow,” he said.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghani Al-Ghamdi, imam and preacher at the Al-Sayeda Ruqayyah Mosque, said, “The ministry needs to train imams on the correct recitation of the Holy Qur’an and other skills that they need. We need to create a mechanism to strengthen relationships and monitor things.”
Al-Ghamdi added that imams should carry out their jobs properly no matter what the situation may be. “This is a responsibility and if an imam feels he isn’t suited then he should find someone who fits the role,” he said.
Al-Ghamdi said people must respect imams. “As long as an imam has good morals and follows Islamic principles then he will be loved and admired by his congregation. The imam is the only one who can deliver a heart-penetrating message to people.”
