Imam in the context of Fethullah Gülen

Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted. For this reason, there generally exist religion-supporting organizations, which are some form of organization that manages:

• the upkeep of places of worship, such as mosques, churches, temples, synagogues, chapels and other buildings or meeting places.
• the payment of salaries to religious leaders, such as Roman Catholic priests, Hindu priests, Protestant ministers, imams and rabbis.

In addition, such organizations usually have other responsibilities, such as the formation, nomination or appointment of religious leaders, the establishment of a corpus of doctrine, the disciplining of leaders and followers with respect to religious law, and the determination of qualification for membership.

Abu Abdallah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i (Arabic: ابو عبد الله الشيعي, romanized: Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shīʿī), was an Isma'ili missionary (dāʿī) active in Yemen and North Africa. He was successful in converting and unifying a large part of the Kutama Berber tribe, leading them on the conquest of Ifriqiya from 902 to 909 and the overthrowing of the Aghlabid dynasty. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya under the Imam–caliph Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah. However, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah quickly fell out with Abu Abdallah and had Abu Abdallah executed on 18 February 911.

Salat al-jama‘ah (Congregational Prayer) or prayer in congregation (jama'ah) is considered to have more social and spiritual benefit than praying by oneself. When praying in congregation, the people stand in straight parallel rows behind the chosen imam, facing qibla. The imam, who leads the congregation in salat, is usually chosen to be a scholar or the one who has the best knowledge of the Qur'an, preferably someone who has memorised it in its entirety (a hafiz) . In the first row behind the Imam, if available, would be another hafiz to correct the Imam in case a mistake is made during the performance of the salat. The prayer is performed as normal, with the congregation following the actions and movements of the imam as he performs the salat.

A minbar (Arabic: منبر; sometimes romanized as mimber) is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (خطبة, khutbah). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Husayniyya, where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation.

The Adal Sultanate, also known as the Adal Empire or Barr Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling Adel Sultanate, Adal Sultanate) (Arabic: سلطنة عدل), was a medieval Sunni Muslim empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din III on the Harar plateau in Adal after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished c. 1415 to 1577. At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Cape Guardafui in Somalia to the port city of Suakin in Sudan.

The empire's frequent wars with its Christian rival, the Solomonic Dynasty of Abyssinia, during the 15th and 16th centuries, led by important early figures such as Jamal ad-Din II, Badlay, and Mahfuz, would earn the sovereigns of Adal a reputation in the Islamic World as one of saints, and were as a result regularly supplied with arms, horses and other articles of war. In the 16th century under the leadership of Imam Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi and his successor Nur ibn Mujahid, Adal embarked on the Conquest of Abyssinia deploying muskets and cannons. The war would eventually draw in the Portuguese and Ottoman Empires. The Adalites maintained a strong relationship with the Ottomans in particular.

Sadiq al-Mahdi (Arabic: الصادق المهدي, romanized: aṣ-Ṣādiq al-Mahdī; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Umma Party and Imam of the Ansar, a Sufi order that pledges allegiance to Muhammad Ahmad (1844–1885), who claimed to be the Mahdi, the messianic saviour of Islam.

Mahmud Ghazan (also Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus; 5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa Khan and great-grandson of Hulegu Khan, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, he is perhaps best known for converting to Islam and meeting Imam Ibn Taymiyya in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of the Mongols in West Asia.

One of his many principal wives was Kököchin, a Mongol princess (originally betrothed to Ghazan's father Arghun before his death) sent by his great-uncle Kublai Khan.

The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Arabic: جماعة الإخوان المسلمين Jamāʿat al-Ikhwān al-Muslimīn), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood (الإخوان المسلمون al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings spread far beyond Egypt, influencing various Islamist movements from charitable organizations to political parties.

Initially, as a pan-Islamist, religious, and social movement, it preached Islam in Egypt, taught the illiterate, and set up hospitals and business enterprises. It later advanced into the political arena, aiming to end British colonial rule in Egypt. The movement's self-stated aim is the establishment of a state ruled by sharia law under a caliphate — its most famous slogan is "Islam is the solution". Charity is a major aspect of its work.

Husayn ibn Ali (Arabic: الحسين بن علي, romanized: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatima), as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad. Husayn is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa and a participant in the event of the mubahala. Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of paradise.

During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali, he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Mu'awiya I treaty, despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In the nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 (660) and his death in AH 49 or 50 (669 or 670), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya I. After the death of Hasan, when Iraqis turned to Husayn, concerning an uprising, Husayn instructed them to wait as long as Mu'awiya was alive due to Hasan's peace treaty with him.

The Imam Ali Shrine (Arabic: حَرَم ٱلْإِمَام عَلِيّ, romanized: Ḥaram al-ʾImām ʿAlī), also known as the Mosque of Ali (Arabic: مَسْجِد عَلِيّ, romanized: Masjid ʿAlī), is a Shi'ite mosque and shrine, located in Najaf, in the Najaf Governorate of Iraq. The site is a mausoleum which Shia and Sunni Muslims believe contains the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib, a cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Shias consider Ali as their first imam and the first of the twelve caliphs of Muhammad, and the Sunnis regard him as the fourth Sunni Rashid Caliph. According to Shia belief, buried next to Ali within this mosque are the remains of Adam and Nuh (Noah). Each year, millions of pilgrims visit the shrine and pay tribute to Imam Ali.

The shrine monument has been built and rebuilt numerous times throughout history.

Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Arabic: الموطأ, 'the well-trodden path') or Muwatta Imam Malik (Arabic: موطأ الإمام مالك) of Imam Malik (711–795) written in the 8th-century, is one of the earliest collections of hadith texts comprising the subjects of Islamic law, compiled by the Imam, Malik ibn Anas. It is also the earliest extant example of a musannaf, referring to a genre of hadith compilation which arranges hadith topically.

Malik's best-known work, Al-Muwatta was the first legal work to incorporate and combine hadith and fiqh.

Nasaruddin Umar (born 23 June 1959) is an Indonesian Islamic scholar and politician who is currently serving as Minister for Religious Affairs, the grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque, founder of the Indonesian interfaith organization Masyarakat Dialog antar Umat Beragama and was vice minister (2011–2014) in the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs. He is also a member of the UK-Indonesia Advisory Team, founded by UK prime minister Tony Blair.

He is the author of 12 books, among them: Argumen Kesetaraan Gender Perspektif Al-Quran (Paramadina, 1999), which examines gender bias in the Quran.

Sermonette (i.e., a small sermon) is a generic term for short, locally produced religious messages that were aired by many U.S. television stations during their sign-on and sign-off periods.

Sermonettes were generally about three to five minutes in length, and featured religious clergy from churches in the local station's coverage area. Reflecting the majority religious faith in the U.S., the clergy involved were almost always Christian (Protestant or Roman Catholic), although in TV markets with a large Jewish population, a rabbi would occasionally be called upon. Similarly, TV markets with a large Muslim population would call upon an imam. The segments were pre-taped for airing at their normally scheduled early morning or late night time slots.

Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (Arabic: حسن أحمد عبد الرحمن محمد البنا; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (Arabic: حسن البنا), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential global Islamist movements, and for his death at the hands of the Egyptian government.

Al-Banna's writings marked a turning-point in Islamic intellectual history by presenting a distinct and all-encompassing modern ideology based on Islam. Al-Banna considered Islam to be a comprehensive system of life, with the Quran and Sunnah as the only acceptable constitution. He called for Islamization of the state, the economy, and society. He declared that establishing a just society required development of institutions and progressive taxation, and developed an Islamic fiscal theory where zakat would be reserved for social expenditure in order to reduce inequality. Al-Banna's ideology featured criticism of Western materialism, British imperialism, and the traditionalism of the Egyptian ulema. He appealed to Egyptian and pan-Arab patriotism but rejected Arab nationalism and regarded all Muslims as members of a single nation-community.

The Imam Reza Shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا, romanized: Haram-e Emâm Rezâ, lit. 'Sanctuary of Imam Reza'; Arabic: العتبة الرضوية) is the mausoleum of Ali al-Rida, the eighth Imam in Shia Islam, located in Mashhad, the province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. As one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, nearly 30 million Muslims making pilgrimages to the shrine every year, the most visited pilgrimage site in Islam.

Imam Reza was a great-grandson of Islamic prophet Muhammad, known for his piety and learning. He is part of the chain of mystical authority in Sunni Sufism, making him widely respected in Sunni Islam as well. He is also regarded as a model of asceticism in Sufism, and the chains of authority in Shia Sufism progress through him. Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha have recorded miracles which have occurred at the shrine.

Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (Arabic: أبو منصور الماتريدي, romanized: Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī; 853–944) was a Hanafi jurist and theologian who is the eponym of the Maturidi school of kalam in Sunnism. He got his nisba from Māturīd, a district in Samarkand. His works include Tafsir al-Maturidi, a classic exegesis of the Qur'an, and Kitab al-Tawhid.

His doctrinal school remains amongst the three main schools of theology alongside Ash'arism and Atharism.