Anglo-imamania
The number of English-speaking imams is rising at last
ON FRIDAYS about 6,000 men and women gather for prayers at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel. They are a diverse bunch: Algerian, Bangladeshi, Indian, Moroccan, Pakistani, Somali, South African. The mosque’s imams preach every sermon three times, in different languages. They are now looking for a new imam to join them. Among the requirements are that he be British-born and speak English.
The Muslims who came to Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly from Bangladesh and Pakistan, brought their religious leaders with them. Few spoke English, nor did the government require them to do so. Stranded in the smokestack towns of northern England, struggling to decode the broad local accents, Muslims found comfort in hearing their mother tongues at the local mosque.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Anglo-imamania"
From the April 13th 2013 edition
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