Imam Yusuf Bah

I am the imam of a community mosque in Philadelphia. I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, came to Philadelphia at fourteen with my mother and three siblings, and have been part of this city's Muslim community ever since. I trained in Islamic studies at two institutions — one in Cairo, one in the U.S. — and I have been in formal religious leadership for twenty-three years.

I provide pastoral counseling to Muslim brothers in the African and African-diaspora community. The brothers who come to me span the breadth of Muslim experience. Brothers born into Muslim families. Brothers who came to Islam as adults — converts, in the language some use, though I prefer 'reverts' for the brothers who hold that framing. Brothers in long and settled practice. Brothers in a season of doubt. Brothers whose practice has lapsed and who are considering returning. All of them are welcome.

The work is broadly the work of a religious counselor. We talk about prayer, fasting, the spiritual disciplines of the faith. We talk about how to practice Islam in the daily texture of a working American life — the schedules, the family negotiations, the workplace accommodations or lack of them, the raising of children in a faith tradition the broader country does not always understand. We talk about marriage, both before and during, including the specific questions that arise in Muslim marriages in the diaspora. We talk about the family-of-origin work for brothers whose families are Muslim and brothers whose families are not.

For brothers who have come to Islam as adults, I do specific work with the first year of practice. The first year is the year the new Muslim either builds the foundation that will hold the rest of his life or drifts back into the patterns of his pre-Muslim life. I help brothers in that year set up the practical structures — prayer at work, halal eating, the Friday prayer schedule, the question of which mosque to attend, the navigation of the Muslim community for a brother who is new to it. The conversations are often specific to the particular experiences of Black American Muslims, immigrant Muslims, and second-generation Muslims, and the differences between those experiences in our community.

I am specifically engaged with the Black Muslim experience in America, which has a long and distinguished history that brothers should know. The experiences of the African American Muslim communities, the African immigrant Muslim communities, the second-generation experience of children raised in both — these are differentiated experiences and the differences matter. I do not pretend they are the same. I do help brothers find a place in the broader umma that respects their specific path.

I do not charge for pastoral counseling. The tradition I serve in does not charge for this work and I have kept that tradition. I keep a limited counseling caseload — twenty to thirty active relationships at a time — and I rotate brothers through as their needs change. If I am at capacity, I will tell you and refer you to other imams or Muslim counselors in the city or region.

I will refer out for what is not in my scope. Brothers with active mental-health concerns that require clinical care will be referred to Muslim or culturally competent clinicians in the Philadelphia area or remotely. Brothers with marriage situations that require formal mediation will be referred to colleagues in that field. The pastoral work I do is spiritual companionship within the framework of Islam; the clinical and mediation work belongs to the professionals trained for it.

If you are considering reaching out, write to me. Tell me where you are in your practice and what you are working on. I read every note. I respond within two weeks. Walaikum salaam.