Imam Sharif Mohamed grew up in Somalia and immigrated to the United States in 1996. Two years later, he co-founded the first mosque opened by the Somali community in Minnesota. Under his leadership, Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque grew from a single prayer space into a civic institution, one that connects the full diversity of Minnesota’s community to spiritual, civic, and healthcare services they might not otherwise reach.
In 2014, he became Minnesota’s first Muslim interfaith hospital chaplain, meeting patients and families in some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Recognizing the position he was in, he went on to build one of the first programs in the nation designed to help Muslim refugee faith leaders consider chaplaincy as a career, a path that didn’t exist until he built it.
His research on faith’s role in public health, from vaccination to preventative medicine, has been published in medical journals, and he remains a central figure in East African immigrant communities across Minnesota, nationally, and globally.
Sharif's work sits at the intersection of pastoral care and program leadership, skills that don't usually live in the same person. What that's built into:
- Program coordination
- Community engagement
- Volunteer mobilization
- Counseling and crisis intervention
- Educational leadership
Recognition here has come from the community he’s served longest:
- Community Leadership Recognition — MAS-MN
- Youth Impact Award — Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque
- Featured in MNHS MNopedia (2017): MNopedia Entry – Dar Al-Hijrah
His work has been documented in:
- Media Feature: MPR News, “Mosque Rebuild After Fire” (2014)
- Oral History Archive: MNHS Somali Skyline Tower Collection (2004)
- Presentation: Augsburg Digi-Tours, Dar Al-Hijrah
Where This Work Has Traveled
From a chaplaincy program that didn't exist, to statewide and national coverage
The chaplaincy program Sharif built has been covered by the Star Tribune and Sahan Journal, and his research on faith and public health has appeared in medical journals. Want to see how far it’s gone?
