£1 Million Invested To Educate Modern Imams
June 4th, 2007
Since 9/11 and 7/7, imams in Britain have been under the watchful eye of the state - but now Tony Blair has taken matters one step further.
In response to a government report titled "Islam and British Universities" he has increased government funding of UK universities' Islamic studies programmes by £1 million. The report criticised many current imam training courses for teaching "out-of-date and irrelevant issues".
Blair also hosted a two-day conference on contemporary Islamic culture at Cambridge University just prior to departing for the G8 summit in Heiligendamm.
Though some say Blair's efforts are spurred on by terrorism and security concerns, others believe the investment is a recognition of a modern - and moderate - form of Islam that needs help to be able to train its own imams.
But not all Muslims agree. Faisal Hanjr, a spokesman for the Federation of Student Islamic Studies, attacked the government's use of teaching Islam in higher education as irrelevant.
"The vast majority of Muslims don't learn their Islam from universities, they learn it from their family and imams in their local communities," he said.
"It is unfair to talk about university courses to denounce extremism."
Hanjra admits that local training of imams is a good idea, as long as "the government doesn't interfere in this process, and that it remains the Muslim communities' responsibility."
Naved Siddiki, spokesman for the Islamic Society of Britain, said that relying on local imams may not be the solution, as many are recent immigrants.
"Many Muslims don't think their imam can understand them," he said, "since they have been living with their family in London for three generations and their imam has arrived from Saudi Arabia 10 years ago."
"You have no idea of those people's feelings of misunderstanding!"
About 100,000 UK youngsters attend Islamic religious schools attached to mosques - madrasas - every day. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of madrasas are no different than CofE schools, except in religion classes.
For Saddiki, the religious training of Muslim children must be paramount.
"For British-born Muslims, there is clearly a need to upskill and train imams to enable them to serve the religious and emotional needs of the youth in particular," he said.
And for that, more imams are needed.
"We welcome this decision as a sign of greater commitment to the complex, two-way street of immigration," Saddiki said.
Taukir Iqbal agrees. A representative of UK Islamic Education, he too hopes for imams who will teach "modern Islam."
"It is a brilliant idea," he said. "The country where you are born doesn't change your knowledge of the religion."
"We're experiencing a modern Islam every day. It consists of having in your Islam class students from all around the world, taught by multi-origin teachers, including British ones," Iqbal said.
Blair's report doesn't please everyone - and its effect on global security may not be known for years.
But it proves to moderate Muslims that the government will put very real support behind imams who can help their communities strike a balance being being Muslim, and being British.
picture: Imam Nader Taha, also a professor of mathematics at Kent State University, speaks during Friday prayer at the mosque. taken by BohPhoto
