KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — A mosque in Kuala Krai, Kelantan has attracted public attention after offering a RM6,000 allowance for an imam to lead tarawih prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.
Utusan Malaysia’s Sunday edition Mingguan Malaysia quoted chief imam Ahmad Maher Safiain saying that the move was aimed at elevating the prestige of the role, which he said is not as easy as it seems.
“In my opinion, the payment is commensurate with the task, considering the rising cost of living at the moment.
“I hope that this initiative can open the eyes of everyone involved and, in turn, enhance the image of tarawih imams,” the Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra Mosque’s imam was quoted as saying.
Ahmad Maher said to be an imam, one must maintain his quality of recitation and pronunciation of Quranic verses.
However, he said that the role of being a tarawih imam at that mosque is open only to Malaysian citizens.
Ahmad also explained that receiving a four-figure payment as a tarawih imam is not a new practice in this country, pointing to how a mosque in Kuala Lumpur would even offer a compensation of RM1,000 just for leading prayers for a single night,
A post from the mosque’s Facebook page on Thursday gained widespread attention by offering a RM6,000 payment for tarawih imams throughout the Ramadan month.
The post received over 1,500 comments and was shared by more than 1,800 users on social media at the time of writing.
