Imam Hafiz Masood

Imam Hafiz Muhammed Masood (Urdu: إ مام حافظ مسعود) (b. March 1, 1958) was imam of the Sharon Mosque in Sharon, Massachusetts, USA, from 1998 to 2006. By 1980, he earned the honorary title Hafiz by memorizing the entire text of the Qur'an.

Biography

Early life and education Masood was born March 1, 1958, in Sargodha, Pakistan. He received his degree in theology from Faisalabad before teaching as an assistant professor at the International Islamic University in Islamabad from 1981 to 1987.

Career In 1998, Masood became imam of the Sharon Mosque, a mosque under the leadership of the Islamic Center of New England (ICNE). During his tenure, he promoted religious tolerance and worked intimately with Jewish groups. In November 2006, he was detained by federal immigration agents for visa violations. In August 2007, he was arrested by the United States U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and charged with failing to properly leave and re-enter the country on a student visa. He posted a $7500 bond and was released to return to his community. In February 2008, Masood pleaded not guilty to five counts of visa fraud but volunteered for deportation. He returned to Lahore and started a small business. He left his wife and eight children who currently live in the United States.

The non-profit organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance believes many of Masood's supporters remain in leadership roles in the Boston Muslim community. Eid also claimed that these radical doctrines at ICNE (and another mosque ran by Islamic Society of Boston) had a motivating influence on several well known local jihadists, including several below:

In 2012, he heads his brother's media wing and runs a separate mosque and religious school in Pakistan. He isn't paid, he said, although the congregation provides him a home. He supports himself through a small embroidery business and drives a 10-year-old Toyota Corolla. He took a second wife, as is permissible under Islam, and has since had another son, who is 2. "I started my family from scratch again," he said. He prays at the same mosque where his older brother preaches fiery sermons proclaiming the violent destruction of the U.S and that Islam will dominate the world.