Professionalization of Islamic ministry in America components of the legitimizing process in Western Society

In the last fifty years there has been a surge of immigration to the Western Hemisphere on the part of Middle Eastern and South East Asian Muslim religious leaders who are responding to a call from Muslim communities for religious leadership. In the United States alone, there have been over 1,500 Mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of religions and ideologies 2010-06, Vol.9 (26), p.114
Main Author: Morgan, John H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Community
Emigration and immigration
Functionaries
Growth
Imams
Islam
Jewish people
Leadership
Medicine
Muslims
Practice
Professional development
Religion
Theology
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Summary:In the last fifty years there has been a surge of immigration to the Western Hemisphere on the part of Middle Eastern and South East Asian Muslim religious leaders who are responding to a call from Muslim communities for religious leadership. In the United States alone, there have been over 1,500 Muslim clergy in the Sunni Tradition immigrate to America within the last twenty years. What is strikingly absent is the training needed to be a clergy person as understood in American society. There is no question that the imams are well trained in the teachings of Islam and the recitation of the Friday prayers. What quite clearly does not exist is an understanding of the concept of professional ministry on the part of these immigrant imams and this has lead to serious problems for the Muslim communities being served and for the imams who serve them. Based on my major data-base study and subsequent book, Muslim Clergy in America: Ministry as Profession in the Islamic Community (2010), I will explore the essential "components" of professional ministry as understood in American society and will illustrate their value and viability within the Islamic communities in America. Key Words: professionalization, professional ministry, Muslim Clergy, religious leader, moral, ethics, the faith community
ISSN:1583-0039
1583-0039