The head imams at some of the local mosques belong to the highest income group among expatriate Bangladeshis. Some of them earn as much as $1200 a week, and their earnings increase with the passage of time. Technically, with each increase in the number of devotees at a mosque, the imam’s earnings grow.
Mosques which operate based on the donations of devotees, pay the imams salary from these donations. Bangladeshis in the United States are running more than 250 mosques, some of which host up to 5,000 devotees during religious Eid (day of celebrating after Ramadhan) festivals and some of the mosques host two to three thousand devotees in Jumma prayer (a special Friday prayer).
Donations are collected after every Jumma prayer, Eid prayer and night prayer during Ramadhan (holy month of fasting). The money collected from the donations of devotees is normally spent for renovating mosques; reconstruction costs; paying the salary for the imam; paying the salary for the Muajjin (the person who calls Muslims to pray); the salary and remuneration of the teachers of the religious school; electricity; water; and other maintenance costs. Donations are also collected from the devotees to support orphanages, Madrashas (religion schools), other religious schools, and the notable imams of different mosques in Bangladesh.
Above all, one has to keep money in pocket when going to the mosque, or risk being embarrassed in front of other devotees: if you can’t give anything, you will feel embarrassed in front of the mosque’s office bearers, who collect these donations. No one has any objection to paying for the maintenance of the mosque or for the salary of the imam. Most people pay what they can and raise few questions about it. But one begins to raise questions when donations are also collected on the orders of the imam and without prior approval by the committee of the mosque.
Although there is no relation between the collection of these donations and the earnings of the imam – he has a fixed salary – there are many other sources of income that form a part of his salary. All the money collected from students at Maktab the religious school at the mosque goes into the pockets of the imam and his colleagues. Nothing is paid to the committee of the mosque.
In some mosques students of the Quran also pay to study with the imam. This money also goes to the Huzur (Arabic teacher). At times a mosque can have as many as 150 students come to learn Arabic and prayer. If $100 is collected from each student every month, the imam is amassing an extra $15,000 a month. If that same mosque also has 15 people coming to memorize the Quran, they are also paying $100 monthly.
Imams take in most of this money, on top of their $1500 monthly salary. And then, during Ramadhan, from tarabih prayer and Eid prayer, another $12,000 is collected for the imam – which adds up to another $1000 a month. So the total earnings of a typically active imam can reach up to $18,000 per month. And this is only the publicly known income imams earn.
Another source of income is from the people who purchase the Tabij – the arm amulet which features holy words which is used as a charm against evil. To control their husbands, woman pay as much as $300 for the amulets, and men have bought Tabij for $250 to $500. Imams also get paid to give holy water for different diseases and minor aches and pains.
Others give money to the imam hoping for success in business, or seeking blessings for the sick or for the deceased with the Jumma prayer the special prayer said for a person after their death costs several hundred dollars. There are also imams who will offer more prayer and more blessings for a person depending on the amount of money they pay. Some imams get cash at every step, and sometimes they haven’t really earned it.
