Introduction :
Despite the fact that there are no clergymen in Islam in the sense that there is no class of worship guardians, there are some certain specifications for an Imam. An Imam is the leader of a Muslim prayer. An Imam must be an adult male. The Imam must be well versed and knowledgeable in the matters of religion. The Imam must be with good manners and piety. He must be the one who knows more and memorizes the most of the Holy Quran amongst the present worshipers during a prayer. When Muslims are praying inside a Muslim’s house, the host should be the Imam. Otherwise, the Muslim who will lead the prayer must take the permission of their host to do so. So, Islam has carefully organized all the steps and precautions of prayer. Islam is a very organized and rational religion which applies to the logical rules.
The Muslim scholars:
We have just said there is no what is called clergymen in Islam. However, Islam acknowledges specialization. This means that a Muslim who wants to tackle religious matters and affairs must be well versed in the topic; and preferably a graduate of some remarkable Islamic institution. In such an institution, a student spends many years studying the sciences of the Holy Quran and the sciences of the Arabic language. The sciences of the Holy Quran include: Tafseer, Tawheed, Aqeedah, Tajweed, causes of revelation, Hadith and many other branches of the Quranic studies. Naturally, a Muslim scholar must be deeply and widely well versed in the sciences of the Arabic language. The sciences of the Arabic language may include: the Arabic grammar, the Arabic syntax, the Arabic semantics, eloquence, poetry, rhetoric and prose. The branches of Arabic studies may include many more branches of knowledge.
The characteristics of a Muslim scholar :
Finally, a Muslim scholar must have some personal qualifications which make him respectable and a community leader. This Muslim scholar must be pious, modest and God-fearing. A Muslim scholar must study under a recognized Sheikh who teaches him the rules of being a scholar. A Muslim scholar must take prophet Mohammad, the prophet’s companions and the previous Muslim scholars as his role models. Finally, a Muslim scholar must be mainly and solely interested in Islam, the religion of Allah; not any other worldly matters.
A Muslim scholar is a role model ,not a saint or a leader:
Where do the Imam and the ma'moom(s) stand during the prayer?
This is a good question which shows the order and discipline of Islam. Muslims perform their prayers according to an organized set of rules. The Imam stands in front of the worshipers who are praying behind him. If there is only one worshiper along with the Imam, the worshiper stands on the right of the Imam. If there are more than one worshiper present along with the Imam, the worshipers form a row of worshipers behind the Imam. In this case, the Imam and the worshipers form a congregation.
How to organize a large congregation :
All Muslims are recommended to pray in a congregation. This congregation may include adult men, male kids, adult women and female kids. In this case, the order of worshipers may be as follows: adult men pray after and behind the Imam. male kids pray behind the adult males. Adult women stand behind the male kids; and finally the female kids pray behind the adult females.
The Imam leads the prayer:
The Imam’s role is to lead the worshipers. This means that worshipers must follow the Imam in every act of the prayer they are performing. No worshiper should take a single move before the Imam does. Also, the Imam’s prayer stands for the prayers of all the worshipers present. This means that when the Imam reads the Holy Quran while praying, the Imam’s reading is sufficient and the worshipers don’t have to read on their own; especially in the audible prayers like Maghrib, Isha, Fajr and the Friday prayer.
