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American Born Imams: Negotiating Clerical Responsibilities and Expectations

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2017-05-03

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Askar, Anas

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East Carolina University

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This inductive, exploratory study seeks to understand in detail the personal perspectives and career paths that American born Imams experience as they become religious leaders. In doing so, this study will examine their objectives and goals for the religious communities in which they reside and are integrally related. More specifically, this study analyzes the responsibilities and expectations with which imams must contend on a daily basis. Symbolic interactionism frames these issues and, at the same time, is the driving force behind an understanding of the imams' experiences as well as those of other important actors in Muslim communities. Employing structured and in-depth interviews, this convenience sample of American born imams addresses key questions which inductively give rise to three major themes: imams currently receive inadequate training for their positions as religious leaders in their communities; the relationship between the mosque board and an imam can directly reinforce or mitigate against problems within the religious community; and certain fundamental advantages along with disadvantages emerge for imams who are American born.

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