The Pulpit Pinch: The Middle East's Imam Shortage
Arab cultures have long held wise men of religion in high esteem. But tight restrictions, low salaries, and few perks have helped create a shortage of imams.
April 20, 2015
Arab cultures have long held wise men of religion in high esteem. But tight restrictions, low salaries, and few perks have helped create a shortage of imams.A country of 90,000 mosques, Saudi Arabia says it needs an additional 30,000 imams nation-wide. Other Gulf countries can’t attract nationals to the job: Emiratis account for just four percent of imams in the UAE, while Qataris make up under 15 percent. An uproar followed the Jordanian government’s announcement last year that it planned to address its shortage of about 5,000 imams by importing them from Egypt.
Some say that raising salaries and benefits would attract more and better candidates. In many countries, imams’ salaries represent only twenty to fifty percent of the average citizens’ wages, so many need to supplement the job with other work. Egyptian imams typically earn less than $3 per day.
But many complain that clerical studies draw the least talented students, and too many clerics merely spread anger and ignorance. The Saudi government has dismissed 3,500 imams over the last decade for questionable sermons, and it began installing cameras in mosques to monitor political speech. Some Emiratis express worry that becoming an imam could put them in difficult political positions. In Egypt, President Sisi has closed 27,000 small mosques and dismissed 12,000 imams not trained in the al-Azhar system, in an effort to regulate religious space better. With problems of both quality and quantity, there is no easy fix.
This piece is a part of Mezze, a monthly short article series spotlighting societal trends across the region. It originally appeared in the Middle East Program's monthly newsletter, Middle East Notes and Comment. For more information and to receive our mailings, please contact the Middle East Program.