Do Young American Muslims Reject Foreign Imams?

Originally posted at Right Truth

I'm taking this with a grain of salt and a prayer. The Christian Science Monitor article by Tom A. Peter, states, "Young Muslims steeped in American life are tuning out imams brought in from foreign countries to teach Islam." If true, this might be the start of something very good. If this is happening in America it would certainly be different that what's happening in Britain and some other European countries.

Over the past 40 years, hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world have emigrated to the United States, bringing their own cultural interpretations of Islam and electing imams who support their views. This practice worked well until recently, when large numbers of these immigrants' Westernized children reached adulthood, creating a disconnect between faith and culture. Foreign imams are at the center of this fast-growing divide between immigrant Muslims and their American-born children. [snip]

the children of this immigrant wave – now adults – identify more with US culture than the one found in their parents' homeland. As a result, they find themselves increasingly at odds with foreign imams, who lead 85 percent of non-African-American mosques in the US, estimates the Islamic Society of North America. ... having one who understands the Islamic faith and American culture equally well is vital, say many American Muslims. [snip]

"The immigrant generation is still living psychologically in their homeland," says Imam Abdul Rauf. "The second generation is the one that begins to assert itself as belonging to the new society."

The article quotes many different Muslims, giving personal thoughts and experiences with imams. You can go read it all yourself here.

"If you're an American Muslim and your Arabic is not the best, I don't know if you're going to be able to lead the mosque because any authentic text is in Arabic," says Fatina Abdrabboh, a Muslim graduate student at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Hoping to create a solution to such issues, a handful of institutions such as the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, Calif., are offering Islamic education and training to Muslims in the US, potentially laying the foundation for a new generation of imams who understand both Islam and American culture.

Until then, Imam Dawoud Kringle, an American in New York City, says he and his friends like to quote a verse from the Koran that says "Allah made the earth spacious," meaning if you don't like an imam or a particular mosque, there's always somewhere else to pray.

It's still Islam and it's still the Qur'an. Could this "next generation" of Muslims and Islam be different?