Islamic center welcomes new imam

For the first time in more than two years, the faithful at the Islamic Center of Tucson have a full-time imam to call their own.

The mosque recently welcomed its new spiritual leader, Imam Khaled Alazhari, from Cairo, Egypt, with a dinner attended by members of the local Muslim community and about two dozen residents from the surrounding neighborhood.

The center has not had a long-term, full-time imam in about 12 years, said Kamel Didan, the vice chairman of the board of the Islamic Center. The previous long-term imam, Omar Shahin, left in 2003 after three years of service. Since then, the mosque has had five other temporary imams, Didan said, and periods with no leader at all.

“While anyone can lead the prayers, certain aspects of the community’s religious needs do require the presence of learned person,” he said in an email.

For more than a year, the Islamic Center, 901 E. First St., and surrounding businesses have endured a rain of beer and liquor bottles, among other objects, from the neighboring high-rise apartments that house mostly University of Arizona students.

“I wish it had been under less stressful times and situations than our having to deal with his community being pelted with whiskey bottles,” said Ward 6 City Councilman Steve Kozachik, who attended the dinner to welcome Alazhari. “But it has opened up a dialogue. If there is a silver lining in this cloud, it gave us an opportunity to dialogue with the center and their community.”

In his first few days in town, Alazhari attended a forum with city and UA officials to discuss the problem.

“It was an amazing program,” said Alazhari, 41. He noted the positive feedback the mosque received from its other neighbors at that meeting. “Before we put laws (in place), we should clarify our situation and get the feedback of all the neighbors.”

Increased dialogue

The increase in dialogue between the center and larger Tucson community aligns with Alazhari’s vision for more involvement between the mosque and non-Muslim public.

“I want to find Muslims interacting positively in the community and to improve the image of Islam,” he said. “We need others to respect us from our behavior and our knowledge.”

As the Islamic Center’s imam, Alazhari will pass on the knowledge he has acquired through his studies at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He has two bachelor’s degrees, one in languages and religion and the other in Islamic law. He also has a master’s degree in comparative studies of jurisprudence and is working on a doctorate degree.

He said he studied to “get more information from Islam and to get closer to my God,” not to become an imam. Others deemed him qualified for the leadership position.

In Tucson, he will use that education to make religious decisions and provide a consistent and authoritative interpretation of Islamic law for the center.

The center reviewed six or seven candidates before deciding on Alazhari, and surveyed the approximately 500 members who attended his guest sermon, said board Chairman Rehmatullah Mir.

“There are a lot of centers and not very many imams,” Mir said. “There are quite a few centers and mosques in America, and a candidate fluent in English and Arabic is already taken.”

Alazhari speaks both Arabic and English — and a smattering of rusty German from his university days.

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“The presence of the imam just reinforces the importance of knowing and having knowledge and acting upon it,” said Ali Obeid, a UA student and member of the center’s community. During the Star’s interview with Alazhari, Obeid, 22, translated certain questions into Arabic for Alazhari.

Former Guest imam

In the place of a full-time imam, the center has relied on guest imams and local volunteers to lead prayers and guide the center. Alazhari was one of those guests, stopping in Tucson for several days during his travels among U.S. mosques.

The weather helped seal the deal. He previously served at a mosque in Canada for three years. His wife and two sons — ages 4 and 7 — are still in Cairo, and Alazhari hopes they can join him soon.

He said a leader in Islam is not a “unique or sacred person” but rather a “normal person” with in-depth knowledge of the faith.

“He’ll be able to answer a lot of questions that people have,” Scott Lucas said after a Friday sermon. Lucas, 41, has worshipped at the center for 11 years. “I think there will probably be more education opportunities. I think he’ll probably be able to help do counseling and give advice.”

Alazhari also wants to build interfaith relationships and focus on serving the mosque’s women and children. He would also like to see an expansion of the center’s private Islamic elementary school to include high school.

“We need to teach our youth the core of Islam and keep them away from extremists or extremism and violence,” he said. Alazhari later said he had not heard about the individuals with al-Qaida ties who worshipped at the mosque in the 1980s, as reported in Star archives.

This new imam’s hopes for the center hinge on building relationships, clarifying Islamic teachings and correcting misconceptions, he said.

Capt. David Azuelo of the Tucson Police Department’s special investigations division met Alazhari at the forum and then the dinner.

“By having a long-term imam here and having a relationship with him, we both benefit” by giving the center a concrete contact in the Police Department, he said. “Now we have a way to reach out to each other when something is amiss.”

In the last six months, he has taken it upon himself to connect with the center’s leaders so problem solving can happen on a community level.

“The ICT community can engage the broader community and alleviate fears and concerns, and I know (Alazhari) is interested in that,” Kozachik said, briefly referring to the attack on a satirical newspaper in Paris earlier this month, which the Tucson center condemned in a press release.

“They don’t want to sit over there as a little island on their own,” he said. “They want to engage the Tucson community more broadly.”

For now, as he delivers sermons, leads prayers and reaches out, Alazhari is also learning what it means to call Tucson home.

“The city is an amazing city with a lot of students,” he said, his Wildcat spirit already evident when he called the UA “the best university in America and all over the world.”

He added, “I am proud that I am here in Tucson.”