Book Review: The Masjid Basics and Management by Tajudeen Yusuf and Lukman Abdur Raheem (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3: The Post of An Imam

An institution without an imam will be led astray by the devil. The Prophet assigned a leader when two people are travelling, and the same goes to a group of three and above. Narrowly, an imam can be situational whereas his mandate expires when the situation is over, e.g for a particular programme only. Broadly, an imam is substantive whereas his mandate is permanent or for longer periods of time which is until his tenure expires, he is dismissed or deceased. For this, there is a Social Contract between followers (the ruled) to relinquish their liberty to an imam (the ruler) on the basis of Quran and Sunnah.

The functions of an imam are various. He is a guardian (murshid) and a leader (amir). A judge and also a spiritual ceremony head such as leading the ceremonies of janazah, marriage, aqiqah, prayers etc. He is a chief security officer, linking with the police department, government chairmen, leaders of faith of other religion and key members of the community. He is a financial officer to delegate the management of funds or give the task to someone else who wll report to him regularly. He is an adviser on various issues as he should be an erudite and a scholar. Lastly, he is a spokesman for the Muslim community to provide sound opinions on certain issues which represent his domain as a whole.

The Prophet said: “The one who recites the book of Allah most should be the imam of the people. If they are of equal recitation, then the one who knows Sunnah most, then the earliest of them to emigrate, and if they are equal in emigraton then the oldest among them in Islam” (Muslim). Therefore, some criteria for appointing imam are listed:

1. Faith- must not be a disbeliver or doubtful of fundamentals
2. Knowledge- highly knowledgeable in Ulum Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Siasah, Adab etc
3. Leadership traits- charisma, eloquence, stature, diplomacy, patience
4. Age and maturity- adults are preferred to minors
5. Male- a woman can never be an imam no matter her level of education but she can assist the imam to coordinate women folks and other tasks
6. Background- must come from a civilised environment as this affects one’s outlook. The Prophet preffered somebody from town to a peasant from the desert
7. Dynamism- up-to-date with current issues

Masjid officials and functions:

1. Chairman: overall head, controls spiritual and administrative going concern
2. Imam: spiritual head
3. Naibul Imam: deputises the imam, takes his duties in his absence
4. Mufassir: delivers lectures, scholar in Quran and hadith, orator of the masjid, mufassir can be naibul imam.
5. General secretary: keeps vital documents, a literate person
6. Assistant general secretary: deputises for general secretary
7. Financial secretary: keeps all books of account, a person who is accounting inclined
8. Treasurer: keeps cash, arranges collection of money, releases money when necessary
9. Public relation officer: image-maker, disseminate vital information to the public, can be taken up by Muadhin
10. Asset maintenance officer: maintains masjid’s gadgets and equipment, can be taken up by muadhin
11. Welfare officer: monitor spiritual and medical well-being e.g coordinates programs to visit hospital, old folks’ home etc
12. Muazzin: making calls to prayers, re-echoes speeches and supplications of the imam

Commonly, conflicts often arise in the masjid community which are caused by several factors. Firstly, it is due to extreme differences in ideology and idiosyncrasy. Disagreements between schools of thought can lead to rival masjids not associating with each other. Secondly, it is the general ignorance of the Muslim folks. Masajid are led by officials with shallow knowledge of Islam which causes lack of trust among the public as knowledgeable public cannot follow ignorant leadership. In Sheikh AbdulQadr Audah’s book, ‘Islam between ignorant followers and incapable scholars’, he observes that the level of education in Muslims can be divided into three: the uneducated; who are illiterate or not having adequate education to understand ideas independently, they often imitate what others do, they cannot give a coherent reason behind the rituals of the worship, this group is 80% of our population. The second group is European-educated. The third group is Islamic-educated. People will follow the Islamic-educated when it comes to matters pertaining to religion, however when there is a wordly issue related to Islam, they will follow the European-educated. Majority of people cannot understand the comprehensiveness of Islam. The third cause of conflict is financial mismanagement. The financial statements produced are not comprehensive meanwhile the cash flows are not properly justified. Some of the funds are tied-up and not invested for profit-yield. Forth, it is the ambitions and aspirations of the masjid committee who dream to hold influential positions in the masjid and when they fail to achieve that, the winner for that position is considered as an enemy. Fifthly, there is rumour and mutual suspicion. Sixth, there is insincerity of purpose. The masjid is built on ulterior motives such as to promote a certain ideology, therefore those who do not share the same ideology are excommunicated. Seventh, there is an overlapping of functions and power. There  is no obvious demarcation of tasks, for instance, the chairman may dispel the Financial Secretary’s power. Eight, there is gross under-utilisation of resources. Gigantic masjid monuments are sadly under-occupied with beneficial programmes.

Masjid’s defective structure is due to the division of authority of spiritual and administrative leadership. Imam has no real power in the masjid administration, even his sermons are scripted. Conversely, it is the chairman who has great power in all affairs. Moreover, Islamic scholars also lack contemporary relevance and higher education, making it difficult for the elites to respect them.