(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The new Imam of Finland’s leading Islamic society aims to strengthen dialogue between Finnish Muslims.
ON 9 NOVEMBER Anas Hajjar was chosen as the new Imam of the Islamic Society of Finland.
“The Society’s moderate line will hold,” Hajjar assured the Finnish News Agency (STT).
Born in Damascus, Syria, Hajjar is familiar to Finns from the Finnish Broadcasting Company programme Muslimielämää, or “Muslim Life”. He has previously served as the Finnish Islamic Society’s chairman.
Hajjar plans to continue to co-operate closely with other societies in the future, and thereby improve the position of Muslims in Finland.
“We need to strengthen the dialogue between Muslims. We also need to scrutinise every service affecting Muslims to ensure that it works well, thereby making the lives of Muslims easier,” he says.
For example, Hajjar believes that the status of religious instruction should be reinforced, so that people can be sure that their children and their identity are secure.
Society in a unique position
The Society’s previous Imam, Khodr Khaled Chehab, died on 7 November. He was an influential and high-profile figure in Muslim immigrant circles.
“His passing has come as a great loss to us. It has also shown us the fragility of life and the importance of education,” Hajjar reflects.
Hajjar supports the organisation of Imam education at a university level. He says that there are not enough people in Finland at the moment capable of interpreting all problems or issuing fatwas, or religious opinions. Finnish Muslims are often forced to appeal to the European Council for Fatwa and Research.
The Islamic Society of Finland was established in 1987 and is Finland’s second oldest Islamic society, which affords it a unique status. Finnish Tatars, who arrived in Finland from Russia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, established the first Islamic society in the 1920s.
In addition to providing prayer services, the Society also organises religious teaching for children, for example. The Society also marries couples, mediates disputes and offers education to young people and adults in the Finnish, Arabic, Somali and Uyghur languages. It also operates an Islamic kindergarten as well as regional societies across Finland.
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Finnish Islamic Community Imam Dies
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