Muslim prayer leaders in U.S. at a crossroads

A Lebanese man living in Syria, Muhammad Musri chafed under that nation's restrictive laws. Then he heard a Voice of America broadcast about the shortage of imams, or Muslim prayer leaders, in the United States.

"I was listening to it thinking, 'What am I doing here?' " he said, and soon afterward he left the country, hoping to lead a mosque in America.

Years later, Musri is an imam in Orlando, Fla., but the job is not exactly the one he anticipated when he emigrated from the Mideast. In the religious melting pot of the United States, the role of Muslim prayer leader has transformed into something that would seem unfamiliar to people in predominantly Muslim countries.

Imams in those nations generally have few other responsibilities than leading prayers on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath.

But in America, they do much more. Like ministers and rabbis, imams manage their houses of worship, teach, provide counseling and perform marriages and other rituals.

Muslim leaders say the position of imams here has evolved to the point that they are becoming an institutionalized clergy — a remarkable shift since Islam has no ordained clergy and is led instead by religious scholars, traditionally a group that is distinct from imams.

"You are at a crossroads," Muslim political scientist Muqtedar Khan told U.S. imams, meeting this month in Alexandria, Va. Imams need to decide "whether you're going to end up becoming office managers at the masjid (mosque) or becoming leaders of your community."

U.S. imams started gaining importance in the 1960s, when the federal government relaxed immigration laws, drawing Muslims to the United States in large numbers for the first time. Few scholars were among the newcomers, creating a leadership vacuum that imams often filled.

Imad Benjelloun, an imam for mosques in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, said Muslims often ask him for guidance on issues that counselors, scholars and others would provide in his native Morocco.

His advice has been sought on everything from reconciling with an estranged spouse to whether Muslims can work in stores that sell alcohol, which they are forbidden to drink under Islamic dietary laws.

Along with imams' new duties have come new freedoms that have boosted their position in local Islamic communities. In many Muslim nations, a government ministry tells imams what they must say in their speeches at Friday prayers. In the United States, the imams decide the topics themselves, setting priorities for their congregation.