»Ich bin hier ein Imam für alles« – Religiöse Autorität in der Praxis

Eine ethnografische Fallstudie mit Imamen in Deutschland

Abstract

The article examines the roles and tasks of imams in mosque communities in Germany that operate independently of umbrella organizations on the basis of ethnographic fieldwork. At its core is the question of how imams take up the roles and expectations attributed to them in their everyday practice and at times use them strategically in order to establish, stabilize, or expand religious authority. Particular attention is paid to the structural conditions of independent mosques, which are characterized by low formal regulation and a high degree of self‑organization. This constellation opens up expanded room for maneuver for imams, within which religious authority is negotiated and consolidated in situational ways. The article thus offers an empirically grounded contribution to understanding the professional field of the imam and the expectations and challenges associated with it in the German context.