Kingston Islamic society hires its first imam

Brock Harrison
Local News - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 @ 07:00

The Islamic Society of Kingston has hired its first imam, a man who wasn't even born when the society started 40 years ago.

Abu Tarek, a 27-year-old part-time imam at a mosque in Toronto, will begin his duties as the spiritual leader of Kingston's Muslim community in September.

As Kingston's imam, an Arabic word meaning leader, Tarek will become the society's main resource for questions of Islamic theology and spirituality.

Tarek holds degrees in Islamic law, obtained in his native Bangladesh, and computer science, completed at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S. He also spent a year in New York studying with Muslim scholars and other imams.

He says he knows the Qu'ran, the central religious text of Islam, by heart and has written courses aimed at teaching people how to properly read and interpret it.

Part of the reason Tarek wants to come to Kingston is because the society wants to use its imam in a largely educational capacity.
"There is no other way besides education that you can improve the community," Tarek said in an interview from his home in Toronto. "We have to cultivate our faith with education, not without."

The Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International, where Tarek works now, appears to strongly denounce terrorism. A "zero tolerance" terrorism policy condemning extremism, written by president Shabir Ally, is the first thing that appears on the mosque's website.

"Everything I've seen of him is positive," said Ally. "If we could have offered him a position to stay on with us, we would have."

Society president Hafizur Rahman says Tarek's guidance here will be limited to a primarily spiritual role.

Unlike other mosques, where imams make administrative decisions in addition to their spiritual responsibilities, the Islamic society wishes to separate Tarek from the decision-making executive. He will be invited to executive meetings but won't be made a voting member.

"We don't want to lose all control to him," Rahman said. "It's our community."

Tarek says that's fine with him. He accepts his role and hopes to learn more about the society and its members so he can take on more responsibility in the future.

"I'm so young, so I can't lead the community," Tarek said. "I will be the new person over there. I don't know the community."

Rahman said the imam hiring committee, and society members in general, were impressed with Tarek's deep knowledge of Islamic law.

"He's quite bright, he's got the knowledge," said Rahman.

He also said the young man demonstrated a positive attitude and willingness to work with the various groups within the society, including women and youth.

About five years ago, Rahman said members of the society began talking about hiring an imam. Until Tarek's hire, the mosque had been run entirely by volunteers.

That meant senior society members ran daily prayer, known as salat, gave sermons on Fridays, and performed many of the spiritual roles an imam traditionally fills.

Rahman said it was becoming difficult to meet the growing educational and spiritual needs of the community without a dedicated and qualified leader.

About a year ago, the society decided it needed and could afford to bring in an imam, so an advertising campaign began.

"Hopefully he will bring some focus. We've been operating as a community without the centre," Rahman said.

bharrison@thewhig.com

Source: http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=172238&catname=Local+News