‘religion’ prayer leader.
This word is adopted from Arabic. An imam can be either male or female. Women, however, cannot lead the congregation in the mosque. To qualify for the position of
imam , one must be or have been married. Duties of an imam include preparing corpses for burial, leading prayers, praying at public and private functions, performing weddings, wakes,
funerals, and baby dedications, and giving sermons in the mosque. Most imam have knowledge of charms and esoteric rituals for which their services are sought.