Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center gets a new imam

Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center

Imam Mohamed Camara (right) celebrated his appointment as new imam of the Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center at the Dec. 5 community dinner.

Without an imam for four years, Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center finally secured one from within its own community; thirty-two-year-old Mohamed Camara started Dec. 4.

Camara’s surprising journey from a typical American high school kid to religious scholar to the imam of an established religious community by the young age of 32 is a story worth hearing.

The search is on

Dawah Center Board President Burhan Clark said the board had been “passively looking” to fill the imam position since the winter of 2021, but the process had stalled.

And they didn’t appear to be in any hurry. The community continued on rather smoothly during its first three years without an imam at the helm. Sheikh Nurideen Zakaria, who had served a long stint as imam that ended in 2010, showed up every day from dhuhr (noon) to isha (evening) prayers, offering spiritual guidance to community members. Three others, including Camara, led prayers and helped fill the leadership gap with their religious knowledge, Clark said. 

Then Sheikh Zakaria’s son wanted his aging father to live near him on the West Coast; Sheikh Zakaria moved away in October 2024. 

That meant a big change for the Dawah Center, Clark said. “While most mosques close their doors between prayers, the Dawah Center stays open from dhuhr to isha every day of the year.” People seeking help know they are welcomed—a woman facing domestic abuse needing a place to stay, a teenager with questions or a father laid off and wondering how to feed his family. “Where would they go if the doors were locked?” Clark asked.

“That was when we decided to refocus and really push hard to fill the position,” Clark said. “We involved the entire shura (executive board) in thinking, ‘Hey, what do we want? What do we need? How do we get them here?’

“It’s a challenging position to fill, getting the right person who could mesh with the Dawah Center to come to Milwaukee,” he explained. “We really punch above our weight. In a larger city, an imam may have very little influence. Here, mayors and governors show up. We have the largest Muslim food pantry in the country and offer a lot of services that are outsized for our smaller footprint.”

Eyes on Camara

Camara had served on the shura for six years. “He was one of the primary people helping us find an imam,” Clark said. 

The board considered Camara “for quite a while,” Clark said, “but there was an understanding he wanted to continue his education. He was doing different work, studying, busy with his children and family, doing some traveling, establishing himself, and also helping on the shura and in other capacities at the Dawah Center.

“I even asked him about a year ago and he said, ‘No,’” said Clark. “He felt the position needed a long-term commitment and he had other plans.” (Camara and his mother are establishing Islamic schools in their native country, Guinea, West Africa, and Camara intends to create an Islamic university there.)

Then, at a board meeting this fall, Vice President Sr. Aminat turned to Camara and said, “Why aren’t you doing this?” Clark recalled.

In an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, Camara recounted that moment. “Everyone looked at me and asked, ‘Why are you making us go through all of this when you could take the position?’ 

“I found it a difficult question to answer. I had been studying and perhaps had been qualified for the position for a long time. But the weight of the responsibility kept me away. It’s huge! Yet, with those responsibilities come rewards and opportunities to please Allah.” 

Camara decided to go home and pray with his family about it. “(The prayers) left me with an easy feeling. I did not feel anxious about taking the position,” he remembered. “I took that as a sign.”

Camara accepted and began his post Dec. 4. The community honored him as the new imam with a dinner on Dec. 5.

“We are excited about it,” Clark said. “At the Dawah Center, a real balance is needed by someone who is understanding and accommodating of the community’s variation of belief and also able to keep that variation within the path of Islam.” Camara has the ability to do that, as well as the desire to continue learning and developing skills, Clark said.

“You can feel the enthusiasm in the community. It’s like having a New Year’s resolution and getting a treadmill,” he added with a laugh. “We’re all in. I’m glad. Now we want to maintain it because our success depends on the consistency of everyone’s engagement, not just the imam’s.”

Camara’s unique journey

Camara’s mother, Gnalen Konate, known in the Milwaukee Muslim community as Sister Hadjaa, honored her mother by naming her son Mohamed for her mother’s father. Camara had a special relationship with his grandmother, “like a mother and son,” Konate said. 

Konate left Guinea, West Africa, in 2001 to seek asylum in the United States. “I came to save my life,” she said by way of explanation. 

She left her only child, Camara, 8, with her mother, planning to bring them to the U.S. when she could. “I cried and prayed every day that I could bring my mom and Mohamed.” When her asylum was approved, she began the process to help them immigrate.

Becoming a scholar

Camara’s life took a new direction during his junior year of high school. Prior to that, he was a kid going to school and doing his chores but with no particular plans. Maybe it was typical of adolescence, he reflected, but he started wondering about “the purpose of all this.” 

At 17, he started frequenting the Brown Deer High School Library, searching for books on philosophy. He found plenty and read them. “The library was pretty decent,” he noted. “The answers to my questions found in philosophical literature brought me to the conclusion that these aren’t questions that can be answered through human faculties.”

That led him to seek books on spirituality. He read Buddhist literature, “but then, eventually, the realization came that beyond spirituality, you need something more universal that answers critical human questions about how we can live together and governance and all of these aspects of daily life.

“That took me to religion and I started looking into Christianity. I didn’t find anything objectionable. But then, of course, the whole thing about Jesus Christ and the Trinity, I had some issues with that. 

“That’s when the light bulb went on in my mind, Islam also has issues with the concept of the Trinity. Why haven’t I looked into the religion I was brought up with?”

Camara had grown up “culturally Muslim,” he said. “We practiced the general belief of God being one and tried to be good. But my faith wasn’t based on inquiry. Now I had an opportunity to relearn the religion I was brought up with.”

His exploration into the meaning of life all took place that year. “I was pretty quick with schoolwork. After finishing my work, I would read. I would also check out some books to take home. I would say all time outside of school work and necessary daily activities was spent reading and researching. And it wasn’t just books; I also used the internet. That same year, he started learning to read the Quran.

“I’m not a quick reader, but I’m a very quick thinker,” he added. “I often don’t need to necessarily read all the small details to draw conclusions that I find confidence in.”

“The rediscovery of the beauty and truth of Islam captured me. The first fascinating thing was the nature of God. I rediscovered Islam on the platform of the nature of God—the 99 names of Allah, I found these very profound. It gave me purpose. I realized there’s so much more to learn about.”

Taking classes

Camara began studying the Quran with classes at the Dawah Center. “I learned some letters and guidelines about reading Arabic.”

When he had the opportunity to go to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee that same year and enroll in Brother Ameer Hamza’s class, he jumped at the chance. Camara learned to read and started memorizing Quran in his class. He memorized a third of the Quran.

By the time Camara graduated from Brown Deer High School in 2012, he was deeply engaged in learning the Quran. Soon after graduation, he met his first mentor, a guest from Chicago who came to lead Taraweeh prayers at the Dawah Center that summer. “Because there was no one else in the community who knew how to read properly, I was the only person able to help him review before he started the week. We built a relationship through that.”

What’s the new imam like? Answers from those who know him best.

WMJ asked Camara, “Who knows you best?”

“My mother is definitely high on that list and also my cousin, who actually has the same exact name—Mohamed Camara. He’s my father’s older brother’s son. We’ve been very close throughout our teenage years into adulthood.”

Sister Hadjaa shared stories of her son’s commitment to Islam, his selflessness, caring and generosity. “When he was in high school, he stopped eating at home. He told me, ‘Mom, I don’t want to bother you. I can just eat plain white rice.’ He had started eating halal before the rest of the family. We joined him later.

“At Brown Deer Middle School, he wanted to pray all his prayers on time. The principal gave him a room and every time it was a prayer time, they would go get him. He finished high school in Brown Deer and they were always a big support.

“After he graduated, he would not take steps to go to college until he was able to read the Quran and understand it. He went to an institute in Chicago for two years. Then I couldn’t find a babysitter because the one I had always wanted to go to church and take the kids, but since they are Muslim, she didn’t want to confuse them. So, Mohamed stopped his Islamic studies to help me with the boys. He had to move back from Illinois. He continued going to school and work, paying his own tuition and expenses. He’s always managed on his own. He even went to India for four months (on a service trip) at his own expense.

“He’d give me money for my expenses every single month. I never even saw my light bill. He’d just take care of it. I don’t know how he does it. He named his first daughter Fatimah after my sister who died. He did that for me.”

His cousin Mohamed had similar stories of Camara’s faith, selflessness and devotion to family.

“I would describe him, first and foremost, as a man of faith,” Mohamed said. “As young as he is, he’s already viewed in very high regard in his community. He’s a man people trust a lot, and personally, I trust him a lot too. 

“He’s a very well-spoken person, very thoughtful and very caring and very dedicated. Once he takes something on, he dedicates his time, energy and everything that he can to make sure it gets done. He doesn’t take promises lightly.”

Mohamed recalled a personal experience. “My father was diagnosed with cancer and we were in Ohio. My dad asked about him. I realized he was getting to a very urgent state so I called my cousin. He left everything he was doing, drove seven hours, and came to comfort my dad and give me a break. And he had to go back within 24 hours. I knew how expended he was.

“Not even a week later, my dad passed away. And he drove again, leaving everything. He didn’t think about how tired he was or the shift he had given up. He puts himself last and others first, starting with his own family.

“I also really admire how when he doesn’t know something, he will literally tell you he doesn’t know and that he is going to get guidance from those who know better,” Mohamed added. “That’s a sign of humility. He is not someone who thinks he knows it all. And he is willing to go find out.

“Finally, I’ll add, He is very committed to his way of life. He and I have talked about his vision of what he is trying to accomplish. Through all the conversations, it has never been about himself. It’s always been about the community.

“He spent his own personal money to travel to different places to do dawah. He spent four months in India, going to neighborhoods and villages that don’t have any sort of Islamic teaching—four months away from his family, on his own dime. He used to take us to go read to kids. Now those kids are in college and remember how he helped them.

“And he never complains. He just says, ‘I’m planning to do this. May Allah make it easy for me.’”

Imam Camara’s hopes

WMJ asked Imam Camara himself, “What is your main ambition, your biggest hope?”

His answer came quickly: “I want to be as much of a reflection of our Prophet Mohammad, sallallahou alayhe wasallam (peace be upon him) as I can possibly be.