'UK mosques should appoint British-Muslims as imams'

The Missing Muslims: Unlocking British Muslim Potential for the Benefit of All is a new report launched by Citizens UK

A report has recommended that mosques in the UK should hire British-born imams instead of foreign religious scholars and leaders on a living wage because they would be better equipped to understand the challenges faced by British Muslims.

According to The Guardian, “The Missing Muslims: Unlocking British Muslim Potential for the Benefit of All” is the outcome of an 18-month long intensive inquiry established by campaigning group, Citizens UK. Its main aim was to examine how the participation of Muslims in the public and community life in UK might be improved.

Fantastic launch of @CitizensUK commission on Islam, Participation & Public Life. View the #MissingMuslims report: https://t.co/ejcDPwDX2p pic.twitter.com/aoXBwpxUnW

— Furqan Naeem (@Furqan_Naeem) July 3, 2017

The report says engagement between the government and the Muslim communities is “a broken relationship that needs to be resolved, and both parties need to be proactive in addressing it.” The 76-page report says “British Muslim experiences are more diverse than often assumed”.



Among its many recommendations, the most crucial one is the call to mosques to review their management structures and recruitment of imams. It says management committees of UK’s mosques need to better understand the modern British life, which can be done so if a British-Muslim is employed as the imam. It is of great importance that British-born imams, who have a good understanding of British culture and who fluently speak English, are encouraged and appointed in preference to overseas alternatives.”

It also suggested that universities should pair with seminaries to accredit educational schemes for imams. Popular discourse dictates that Muslims are as a disadvantaged group, or a “threat within,” and that unlocking fuller Muslim presence would lead to a reduction in perceptions and polarisations from within the British society.



It added: “Contrary to the popular representation that there is a ‘lack of integration’ by Muslim communities, the commission encountered a wealth of positive community work by British Muslims [as well as other groups] at a local level, across ethnic and religious lines.”