Most imams and clerics in Britain are from overseas

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5796148.ece

[Times Online] 25 Feb 2009--All but three per cent of imams or clerics in Britain's mosques are from overseas, according to new research published today.

The Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think tank, claims in a poll of the country's mosques that even though most of Britain's 2.4 million Muslims were born here, they are being preached to about their faith by poorly paid foreign imams with limited proficiency in English.

The foundation, itself run by former Islamic extremists and in receipt of about £1 million of public funds, claims its research proves that more than four in ten mosques do not compensate for this by holding the lecture before Friday prayers in English.

It criticises the foreign imams as "ill-equipped to navigate Britain's complex, liberal and multi-faith society."

The foundation warns: "Britain's young Muslims, without a voice in mosques, are looking elsewhere for religious guidance and will continue to be drawn in by young, articulate extremists who offer an alternative narrative, cause and social space."