Bronx —

The young girls leaped into the imam’s lap as if he were, well, Santa Claus. “Look how long your beard is,” said Mariama Sillah, 6, one of the girls playfully tugging at the black hair dangling from Imam Baba Jangana’s chin, her speech nearly drowned out by giggles. “You should cut it. When it gets on the floor, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to tell them to get off my beard,” Jangana said, beaming, without missing a beat.

Read more

Imam Baba Jangana serves West African immigrants in the Bronx.