The Authority of Imam in Italian Islam and Beyond: The Case of Guided Tours at the Great Mosque in Rome

This article aims at analysing the meaning and the role of the ‘authority’ of the Great Mosque of Rome. This topic is dealt with from several perspectives. The first part of the contribution is focused on a more general discussion centred around ‘authority’ in Islam, taking into account the peculiar Italian context, and the complexity of ‘authority’ as an analytical cat- egory. The second part of the article focuses on an ethnographic case study that aims at investi- gating the role of the Imam Nader Akkad in creating the narrative of the Great Mosque during the guided tours at that worship place