Belgian Imams Face Low Pay and Cultural Disconnect, Expert Warns

In Belgium, there is a gradual rejuvenation of imams, but they face enormous difficulties. In an interview with the newspaper La Libre, Michaël Privot points out that these young imams are not in tune with Belgian society. "Most imams have been trained in Morocco or Turkey, and they don’t have the sociological or philosophical tools to understand Belgian youth, who nevertheless show a great thirst for meaning. It’s not that these imams are unwilling, but they are helpless. Hence the importance of training and support," he explains. According to the Islamologist, the difficulties these imams encounter are also very practical.

He elaborates: "Take the imam of a small mosque who is alone in having to lead the five daily prayers. This confines him to a place of worship and cuts him off from life in the neighborhood, in associations... Moreover, becoming an imam is not highly valued or well-paid. Few young Belgian Muslims are tempted by such a profession." The former member of the Board of Directors of the Muslim Council of Belgium continues: "As a result, many imams are of foreign origin, just as many Catholic priests come from Africa. If we want to develop an Islam of Belgium, this will also have to involve an improvement in the status of ministers of worship."

Furthermore, the CMB board of directors of which Privot was a member has recently been renewed. This organization created in 2023 will replace the Executive of Muslims of Belgium (the previous representative body of Muslims) "undermined by internal dissensions and discredited by the De Croo government following a report from State Security denouncing foreign interference within it." The CMB is on its way to becoming the representative of Islamic worship and thereby providing services to recognized mosques (about a hundred out of the 350 mosques in the country) and to ministers of worship.