The imams in Catalonia: who they are, what they do, where they come from

Dossier The imams in Catalonia: who they are, what they do, where they come from 3 articles

• The imams in Catalonia: who they are, what they do, where they come from
• This is how other European countries manage Islam
• Islamic 'influencers' are gaining popularity among young Muslims in Catalonia

BarcelonaA thick curtain divides the carpeted room in two. In the smaller section, a couple of women are teaching a group of girls. The larger section, however, is reserved for boys, and the imam and his assistant are in charge of teaching them the Quran and Arabic. There's a bit of a commotion, nothing like the silence that reigns in the mosque during prayer.

The imam, Mohammed Ijaz, 49, needs a teenager to interpret for him because he doesn't know a word of Catalan or Spanish. "I arrived in Barcelona less than a year ago," he explains in broken English. He previously worked in Denmark and South Korea, although he's from Pakistan, where his wife and 7-year-old son still live. Currently, as imam of the prayer hall at the Camino de la Paz Islamic Cultural Center in Barcelona's Raval neighborhood, he earns 1,200 euros a month and lives in a rented room for which he pays 300 euros. On Fridays, the holy day for Muslims, some 2,000 men pray at this place of worship. They do so in four shifts because there isn't enough space for everyone. Women are not allowed to enter during the prayer.

"Women in Islam are not obligated to cover their faces. If a husband asks his wife to cover hers, it's because he only wants to see her out of love," explains the imam. He also says that in Islam, "music is not sinful if it doesn't speak of bad things." "In practice, we can enjoy very little music that isn't Islamic," he adds.

In contrast, El Hachmi Meftah, 47, from Morocco, is the imam of the Badr Mosque in Terrassa, a beautiful two-story building with arched doorways where some 1,500 people pray on Fridays. He does speak Spanish, although he leads the prayer in Arabic. He has lived in Catalonia for almost two decades. For a year and a half, he worked as a bricklayer, and then he became an imam. He is married and has two children. "We work to help Muslims become good people," he says.

Catalonia is the autonomous community with the largest Muslim population, approximately 694,000, according to the 2024 demographic study by the Andalusian Observatory. The majority (85%) say that religion influences their daily lives, and more than half attend a mosque at least once a week, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Opinion Studies and reported in the 2023 Religiosity Barometer.

Total ignorance

In Catalonia, there are 319 Islamic prayer rooms, according to the General Directorate of Religious Affairs of the Catalan Government, but it is unknown how many imams there are, what country they are from, or what their background or ideology is. In other words, absolutely nothing is known, just as there is no data on priests, pastors, or rabbis, in accordance with the right to religious freedom. The same is true for the religious instruction given in these places of worship: it is unknown exactly what is taught and who teaches it. This lack of information also exists in other European countries, but, unlike here, many governments have begun to take action to train imams within the social and legal framework of the country or to guarantee that their sermons respect fundamental rights such as individual freedoms and gender equality. What is surprising is that in Spain and Catalonia this issue has not even been raised yet.

The cooperation agreement between the State and the Islamic Commission, signed in 1992, defines very vaguely who can be an imam in Spain. It literally states that anyone recognized as such by the Islamic community, and who is permanently responsible for leading prayers and providing religious instruction and assistance, can be an imam.

Simple workers

Mosques in Spain are managed by Islamic associations, which in turn hire the imam and pay their salary. In other words, the imam is simply an employee and is only accountable to their employer. The associations are usually registered with the Ministry of Justice's registry of religious entities, but imams are under no obligation to register as ministers of religion.

The Islamic Commission acts as an intermediary with the state administration, but its primary task is to guarantee the religious rights of Muslims according to the 1992 agreement. That is, it has no responsibility for the imams themselves. However, it is responsible for accrediting them so they can perform civil marriages or offer religious services in prisons. Therefore, they require "certificates of religious studies that demonstrate their theological training, proficiency in Spanish, and the ability to carry out pastoral work in a religious minority context," explains the Commission's secretary, Mohamed Ajana El Ouafi. So far, the Commission has only accredited 30 imams to officiate marriages and 20 to work in prisons, out of an estimated 1,766 throughout Spain.

Beyond the Commission, there are a number of federations to which Islamic associations can affiliate, but always voluntarily. In Catalonia, the federation with the most members is the Union of Islamic Communities of Catalonia (UCIDCAT): it brings together 290 of the 399 Catalan Islamic communities, according to its president, Mohamed El Ghaidouni. To join, they must demonstrate that they are registered in the registry of religious entities and that they have statutes and a board that is periodically renewed. UCIDCAT offers them support with administrative procedures, but, like the Commission, it also washes its hands of the matter regarding imams. "We do not intervene to change the religious line of the communities," El Ghaidouni clarifies.

Finally, since 2017 there has also been a Council of Imams of Catalonia, but it only has about thirty members. Therefore, its capacity for influence is minimal. "Our goal is to have a meeting place, a forum for exchanging ideas, and to do our part in promoting religious coexistence," explains Imam Yassin Laghmich, who arrived in Barcelona from Morocco in 2002 at the age of 21 and speaks fluent Spanish. He is one of the four representatives of the Council who agreed to be interviewed by ARA, but only on the condition that they know the questions beforehand. Another is the president, Mustafá El Gharib, also Moroccan, 55, and imam of the Attauba Islamic Cultural Association of Santa Coloma de Gramanet. He does not speak during the entire meeting and needs translation because he speaks neither Catalan nor Spanish.

So, if Islamic associations are solely responsible for imams, what criteria do they use to choose them? There's no clear answer to this question either, beyond the requirement that they know the Quran by heart.

Youssef Dermouh Oukhouya, secretary of the Al-Tauba Islamic Cultural Center, which manages a mosque in Cornellà de Llobregat that is one of the largest in Catalonia and is often presented as a model for its activities and integration, explains that what they considered when choosing the imam was that he was a lifelong imam and therefore trustworthy. They pay him 1,400 euros net per month for working six days a week, but they have him employed as a teacher because if they had him as an imam, he wouldn't be entitled to unemployment benefits, as is the case with priests or other religious ministers in Spain.

In addition, another imam delivers the Friday sermon at this mosque once a month. This is Ahmed Bermejo, who was born in Granada, lives in Sabadell, and speaks perfect Spanish. His presence is an attempt to attract young people. Because this is one of the problems many mosques currently face: young Muslims born or raised here don't quite understand the imams, nor do they connect with them.

Bermejo argues that most mosques are run by the first generation of Muslims who arrived in Catalonia and who, with great effort, managed to establish a place of worship where they could feel connected to the reality of their countries of origin. This explains, he adds, why most imams "don't speak Spanish," "are unaware of the surrounding context," or "follow customs that are sometimes not linked to Islam but to their culture of origin." And why they have no need to integrate: "Why would they, if their needs are met and they are respected by the community?" However, he clarifies that things are not as easy as they seem: "There's an economic problem. If you want an imam who speaks Spanish and knows the context, it costs much more than a recent arrival from Morocco." And the associations that hire them are theoretically financed by their members' contributions.

No relationship with women

"The imam says we can't have any relationship with any woman, not even chat with them online, unless they are our mothers or sisters," explain two 15-year-old boys of Bangladeshi origin, who prefer to remain anonymous. They frequent the prayer hall at the Islamic Center of the Raval neighborhood in Barcelona and have also studied Arabic and the Quran since childhood. The imam, Mujib Rahman, refuses to speak with ARA without the permission of the board of directors of the Islamic association that hired him. And the board never clarified whether they granted permission.

In fact, this is one of the obstacles this newspaper has encountered. The imam of the mosque of the Cultural Association of Muslims of Reus and the Surrounding Area is the only one who has clearly declined to be interviewed by ARA. Other Islamic organizations, however, have not refused outright but have stalled or stopped answering this journalist's phone calls and WhatsApp messages. This is the case, for example, of the Imam Malik Islamic Center in Salt or the Catalan Islamic Cultural Center in Barcelona.

"In Morocco, to be an imam, you have to take an exam and have a certificate," says Hasan El Aissaouy, 48, imam of the Al Fath Islamic Community mosque in Vilafranca del Penedès, who did grant ARA's request for an interview. The mosque, a beautiful building with minarets, a dome, and Moorish-style windows, is one of the largest in Catalonia and is located in an open area of an industrial park, away from the town center. It has a capacity for 1,500 people and teaches Arabic and Islamic religion to about 120 minors. "In Islam, you can't force anyone; you have to teach," emphasizes the imam, who has lived in Catalonia for two decades and speaks fairly fluent Spanish. He also acknowledges that Islam permits polygamy, but that nowadays women don't accept it and request divorce.

Imam Mohamed Abdul Qadir, 35, originally from Bangladesh, insists that Islam doesn't force anyone to do anything against their will, but if he had to choose, he'd prefer women to wear masks. He speaks a little Catalan because, he says, he's already taken two courses, and he's the imam of the Tariq Bin Ziyad Mosque in Barcelona, ​​where about 1,200 people pray every Friday. A sign at the entrance prohibits shorts, and some men change into long trousers right there at the door. Abdul Mujib, 60, from Pakistan, is the imam of the Madani Mosque, also in Barcelona but much smaller, with a capacity of only about 150 people. "In Islam, a woman is like a diamond. And you don't leave a diamond in the street; it should be at home," he declares. It also says that boys and girls shouldn't study together in the same classroom and that women are forbidden from entering the mosque during Friday prayers.

Without legal instruments

"Local councils lack the legal instruments to prevent it [the ban on women entering some mosques]. It's part of the religion's internal organization," states Ramon Bassas, the Catalan government's Director General of Religious Affairs. He also declares that the Catalan government doesn't have "strict knowledge of imams" because that falls under the jurisdiction of the central government, but that in any case, "the role of an imam isn't like that of a parish priest; it's not as decisive as it seems." He adds, "The signs of radicalization are thoroughly studied. The moment the police have even the slightest indication, the protocols are activated." He asserts that following the 2017 attacks, Islamic communities are collaborating with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) on the Radicalization Prevention Plan. However, the Mossos have declined to comment on the matter.

Fouad Ramdi, president of the Al Qarawiyyin Islamic Association in Figueres, shows the WhatsApp messages he sent to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) when he recruited an imam this year to teach Arabic and Islamic religion to the community: he sent them a copy of the ticket, claiming maximum transparency. Around a hundred children attended the classes, which cost between 5 and 15 euros a month, until some families began withdrawing their children because the imam slapped them or hit them with a stick. "The imam was from Morocco, but he lived here, and he had been recommended to me because he had teaching experience," says Ramdi, surprised by the whole situation. Perhaps he had experience, but teaching in other countries is very different from teaching here, where physical punishment is a crime.

According to the cooperation agreement signed by the State in 1992, Muslim students have the right to Islamic religious education in public and state-subsidized schools. On January 1st, in Spain, there were 311 Islamic religious education teachers with a certificate of suitability from the Islamic Commission to work in educational centers. Of these, only five work in Catalan schools, according to data from the Department of Education, although it is estimated that there are more than 100,000 Muslim students in Catalonia. In other words, their religious education is left in the hands of Islamic communities and imams without any type of certification.

"There are imams who try to promote behaviors among their followers based on a very fundamentalist interpretation of the Islamic faith, rather than the social principles that govern coexistence in 21st-century Catalonia. They create mini-societies within society," warns Sergio Altuna, a researcher with the extremism program at George Washington University. In his opinion, "this issue must be addressed" and "the debate not left to those who want to politicize it," that is, the far right.

Training of imams

Jordi Moreras, professor in the anthropology department at Rovira i Virgili University and one of the leading experts on Islam in Catalonia, confirms that there is "a traditional Islam" in Catalonia and that imams "are often out of touch." "Imams need to be trained, as is being done in other European countries," he proposes. And, in this regard, he states that the responsibility lies with both the government and the Islamic communities. Professor Mostafà Shaimi, from the University of Girona and a member of the Chair of Anti-Racist Analysis and Action, shares this view. He laments, however, that "the racism and Islamophobia" suffered by the Muslim population cause some Muslims to withdraw into themselves as a protective measure, and that "polarization" makes it difficult "to open a debate about the kind of Islam we want in Catalonia."

Mohamed Halhoul, secretary general of the Islamic Council Federation of Catalonia—which brings together 21 associations—explains that for several years, between 2004 and 2008, they provided training courses for imams on Catalan affairs, until their funding was cut off. The Islamic Commission and the Union of Islamic Communities of Catalonia (UCIDCAT) also assert that they want to train imams, but receive no support from the government. For his part, the Director General of Religious Affairs for the Catalan government states that the initiatives they have attempted to implement in this regard have had very little demand; in other words, few imams have signed up. In any case, Joan Antón-Mellón, a specialist in political theory and radicalization processes, believes that "it is a mistake to approach radicalization from a security perspective." That is, to delegate this issue to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). "Resentment, identity issues, and systemic factors, such as difficulty accessing housing or making ends meet, all play a role in radicalization processes." He concludes: "Failing to implement adequate integration policies is a ticking time bomb."

Dossier The imams in Catalonia: who they are, what they do, where they come from 3 articles

• The imams in Catalonia: who they are, what they do, where they come from
• This is how other European countries manage Islam
• Islamic 'influencers' are gaining popularity among young Muslims in Catalonia