Since my departure from the SALAM Center a few weeks ago, the chatter has been deafening in the community about the role of the Imam and the expectations the Muslim community should have of him. This new found free time has allowed me to engage in some deep rumination about my experience with SALAM and our community at large. Interestingly, more than 5 of the most well equipped/most well-known imams in America have left their posts over the past two months alone. Before them, scores of imams step down almost every month. In fact, the average time an imam spends with his mosque is usually less than 5 years (which means I was a survivor :-).
Mosque in-fighting is a staple of the American Muslim’s experience It happens everywhere and affects everyone, but no one likes to talk about it publicly because, according to conventional wisdom, “we should not show non-Muslims our dirty laundry”. All of us can tell tales about mosque turmoil as often as we share stories about rowdy cousins and bad restaurants.
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