Imam Hassan Amin is the newly-appointed Muslim Chaplain at Hopkins. He has a 30-year background in social work, a 10-year career as a sociology professor at Sojourner Douglass College, and 25 years as an administrator and Imam at local Islamic centers in Baltimore City.
This is not his first time being affiliated with Hopkins.
“For the last five to six years, I’ve been a volunteer chaplain at the Johns Hopkins Hospital,” Amin said. His work there included counseling patients, and also working to spread knowledge about Islam to the Hopkins Hospital staff. “I spent time at the School of Nursing, teaching them how to interact with their Muslim patients, trying to allow them to get a better understanding of some of the aspects of our faith.”
He hopes to do some similar work on our campus, and is excited to work with the students here. “I love being around youth
for their enthusiasm and optimism. The group of students at this school now have a nice spirit about them.”
He thinks he will work well within this community to spread knowledge about Islam. “These students want to make changes to their work, but hold onto their faith. They are interested in teaching others what Islam is, and also what Islam is not.”
He has already seen students taking a lot of initiative on campus, and is ready to get involved. “I have already hit the ground running in helping with student’s existing projects,” he said. He talked about helping Hopkins students to coordinate bringing Dr. Tariq Ramadan as a speaker at the annual Muslim Student Association’s Spring Banquet, and working with a few individual students who were compiling a photojournalism project on generations of Muslim families. “Any way I can help, I want to.”
Amin addressed his decision to come to Hopkins. “I was approached by Dean Boswell and some others because they were interested in bringing an Imam to Homewood.”
He also spoke about the need for his chaplaincy on our campus. “For six to seven years we have been without an Imam, and this campus has two hundred or so Muslim students,” he said.
With this kind of need, Amin wants to do more than just get the word out to the campus. He is here to address a number of the students’ needs, whether they be personal or spiritual. “They asked me if I could come on board to help with faith related issues, to counsel students in their faith, to do the sermons on Friday nights,” he said.
He hopes to make a real difference in the lives of his students, and his work as a counselor and social worker has prepared him for that. “My giant focus is to be there for my students one-on-one. I don’t have a time limit, it’s not a nine-to-five situation. I have a phone number just for Homewood campus students,” he said.
He spoke a little bit about the kind of counseling he hopes to do. “These students just went through midterms, and I am trying to keep their spirits up,” he said.
He hopes students will talk openly with him, and promises to talk frankly back. “I have an obligation to guide my students correctly according to the rights and rituals of our faith.”
Sometimes, that might mean answering hard questions. “If a student came to me [and] said they have a girlfriend and they are having problems, I have to tell them there are no girlfriends and boyfriends in Islam,” he said. He is adamant about counseling his students within the framework of his faith. “But, although I am the Muslim students’ chaplain, I am really open. If a student doesn’t have a faith and they want someone to talk to, I’m more than willing to sit with them,” he laughed. However, he cautions again about the kind of advice he will be giving. “But they have to understand that I will be very frank with them about the right and wrong of a situation,” he said.
Junior Sheerin Habibullah feels that having a chaplain will be very useful to the student body. “I actually am really relieved that we have an elder figure with more experience working with the community and the religion in general,” she said. “I feel like we were successful before, but there were always a lot of students I personally know who didn’t feel comfortable approaching someone with questions. I feel like having a chaplain would give them an opportunity to talk to a leadership figure.”
Amin has a lot of experience organizing in the community, and he hopes to bring some of that spirit to Hopkins as well. “Some of my biggest passions are enlightening people about the realities of domestic violence and the homeless situations,” he explained. “We need to help people, so we’re hosting walk-a-thons and food drives to bring non-perishable items to people who need them.” He’d love to see the students here join him in his passions and get involved in the community around them as well.
Amin has big plans for the Homewood campus. He believes that he can expand the outreach of the Muslim student’s community and strengthen their community, starting on a personal level. “It seemed like a perfect fit for me because I can bring something to the table for the students, and the students can bring something for me, so it will be a perfect marriage and a great thing.”
