Ahmad Tejan Sillah is a

Sierra Leonean Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

scholar and Islamic

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

. He is the chief imam of the Freetown Central Mosque, one of the largest

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Sierra Leone. He is also one of the leaders of the Sierra Leone United Council of Imams, an Islamic organisation that is made up of imams across Sierra Leone. Sillah is one of the most prominent

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

s in Sierra Leone. Sillah is a Shia Muslim of the

Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

branch of

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

Born and raised in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, Sillah received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

at the Dar Al Tabligh Islamic University in the

holy city A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...

of Qum in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Sillah is an advocate for child and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

to be respected as stated in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

. He has often preached against violence in society and violence against women. During Sierra Leone's civil war, Sillah was one of the leading advocates for peace. He traveled to dangerous rebel held areas of the country to preach to the rebels to lay down their arms and accept peace. In 2000, he was appointed by the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

(UNFPA) as a

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

. Sillah is a founding member of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone, which is made up of both Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

Early life and education

Ahmad Tejan Sillah was born and raised in

, the capital of

. He is a

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. He attended primary and secondary schools in Freetown. In 1974, he received a master's degree in Islamic studies at the

Dar al-Tabligh The Dar al-Tabligh was a Shiite seminary in Qom. It was established in the mid-1960s by eminent grand ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari and soon emerged as one of the most popular hawza for Iranian and foreign students, with a prolific publi ...

in the holy city of Qum in

. He was an Islamic preacher for two years in Iran before returning to Sierra Leone. He is religiously close to

Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word p ...

Ali Khameinei, the spiritual leader of Iran. Sillah served as an Islamist cultural advisor at the Iran embassy in Sierra Leone from 1983 to 1985. He was the chief imam of the Masjid Fatima Zahra mosque in Freetown from 1982 to 1985. He has been the chief imam of the Freetown Central Mosque since 1985. From 1986 to present he has served as the

spiritual leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the United Council of Imams in Sierra Leone, an organisation he is a founder member of. Since 1985, he has served as the Director of the Muslim Cultural Society in Sierra Leone and also Director of the Sierra Leone Ahl Ul Bayt World Assembly Sierra Leone, a humanitarian organisation that helps poor Sierra Leoneans. Sillah served as the principal of the International Institute of Islamic Studies in Freetown from 1991 to 1993.

Activist

Sillah is a founding member of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone, which is made up of both Muslim and Christian religious leaders. In 2000 he was appointed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Population Fund Agency (UNFPA) as a Goodwill Ambassador. Sillah has traveled across Sierra Leone and many other countries preaching peace, belief in the Koran and religious tolerance of non-Muslims. He has used his own wealth to pay fees for poor students, sponsor students to attend college, and he is an advocate for child and women's rights to be respected as stated in the Quran. He has preached against violence in society and against women. Sillah has preached that most of what exists in a true democratic society had existed in Islam long before democracy itself took place in the

Western World The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sillah, Ahmad Tejan Living people Muslim activists Sierra Leonean Shia Muslims Sierra Leonean imams People from Freetown Year of birth missing (living people)