Portrait of Imams and their Professional Training in Pakistan

Abstract

This research study is concerned to know the Imam status such as appointment, qualification, salaries, professional development, religious group affiliation and etc in Pakistan. It also focuses on solutions to be adopted to make the imam professional development system more effective.  The research is exploratory in nature. The participants of this study, who served as the sample, include thirty (30) imams who were working in different types of mosques and thirty (30 ) prospective Imam studying in different religion education madaris. The data were collected through self developed in depth interviews and thematic analysis. The researcher personally approached to the respondents and collected the information.  The findings of this study indicates that there are seven major governing bodies of Pakistani Madaris that deal with the religious professional development in Pakistan. There is no basic education for imams in Pakistan. The religious qualifications for imams are also expanding from one year to eight years. While the curriculum is different in each school of thought institution.  The name of program is almost same but the durations vary from eight to nine years. The teaching methodology is focused on lecture and rote memory, with a bit of focus given to discussion. However, not all Madaris have trained staff.  All Madaris should be registered and minimum qualifications of imams should be determined.

Key Words: Imams, Madaris, schools of thought, professional development