By Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
Imams (or Alfas in local parlance) are human beings like us. They have needs and aspirations. They have wives, children, parents and dependants. They eat, drink and wear clothes like us. They pay school fees, electricity bills, medical bills and house rent like us. We expect them to dress well when they come to lead prayers or give lectures in mosques, and when they come to teach our children in our local Arabic schools.
We must support these Imams just as the companions supported the Prophet (PBUH). The companions would bring gifts of various kinds and money to the Prophet (PUHB) to make him and his family comfortable. They never left him to his affairs.
We cannot afford to assume that our Imams are comfortable just because they are not asking for our financial assistance. We need to extend a helping hand to them even if they are not asking.
Some of us want our Imams and Alfas at our beck and call. We want them to be available when we need them for our Salāt, our inheritance sharing, our burial (Janāzah), our naming ceremonies, our wedding ceremonies, our lectures, etc, but we do not care whether they have the transport fare to come or not.
During our ceremonies, we do not want them to stay long or ask our guests and friends to make donations, yet we do not always have any reasonable ENVELOPES already packaged for them. Some of these Imams come for our ceremonies on an empty stomach and with empty bank accounts.
Our Imams are not ambulances to be called in critical situations. We can also call them for lunch and dinner
An e-poster bearing the message above was shared with me about a week ago. I will add: *”We can also call them for economic empowerment, gifts, scholarships, training, vocational skills
Where do we put our Imams and their families during our empowerment programmes? Do we remember them? How many Imams who wish to advance their education have we given scholarships? How many Imams who have businesses have we given non-interest loans to? How many Imams have we empowered their wives?
Surprisingly, we all want our Imams to look good, speak well, and improve their knowledge. How does someone who cannot feed well or feed his family look good or improve his knowledge?
We have had reports of Imams who collapsed while giving lectures or teaching their learners. When they regained their consciousness, they mentioned that they had slumped because they had come on an empty stomach.
It can be painful when we see _Walīmatul-Qur’ān_ ceremonies, naming ceremonies or wedding ceremonies consuming longer times than necessary. Some Alfas will even ignore Salāt times. This is bad enough, right? But, we can change the narrative only if we do not allow our Imams and Alfas to live only on earnings and peanuts from ceremonies and parties. We can only stop this ugly reality if we empower our Imams and support them away from ceremonies and parties. They also do not need to beg us for money before we give them.
Someone may say: “Imams should also look for jobs”. Well, Imams are already looking for jobs. But, remember, this also has some negative consequences. Imams who run around to look for jobs or who are busy chasing customers around from Oshodi to Oju-Elegba will not have time to teach our children. He will not be available when we need him for Salāt, for our burial, or other urgent tasks that require his attention. He may not even have time to study his books because he is always on the move. The end result of this is that he can no longer handle your questions or the questions that your highly smart children will want their Imam to provide answers to.
We would do Islam a world of good if we prioritize the well-being of our Imams and Alfas.
Before we blame our Imams for not dressing well, or for collecting money during ceremonies, or for overstaying their welcome during ceremonies, let’s extend our empowerment initiatives to them, let’s extend our Zakāt and Sadaqah to them, let’s surprise them with gifts. Let’s empower their families. Let’s help them grow in their knowledge.
Let each of us adopt an Imam to support.
We have a message for Imams and Alfas too. This will be given in our future releases. In Shā Allah
Abdul-Ganiyy Raji is the National Da’wah Officer of NASFAT
