Saturday, January 13, 2007

Management of Organizations

GUIDELINES FOR ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS
Mike Ghouse Originally Published on June 1, 2006


Much of the maligning of Islam we see and read in the news papers stems from the speeches and the management of our Mosques, and it also fuels the talk show hosts. The best way to fix the problem is straighten out ourselves first.

The first battle field of change is our institutions. We need to plan long term and short strategies/ solutions to our issues if we have not already done it.

In the interest of our community's long term peaceful un-fearful co-existence, we may have to take up this topic and discuss it within our organizations. A national policy would be of greater value. Most of us are familiar with our problems, and as such I have not explained the background for each item, you can complete the list with your own situation. Here are a few solutions to consider.

SPEAKERS SPEECHES MEETINGS:
  1. We must keep a record of what we say in public forums.
  2. We must keep records of speeches or scripts to go on the website.
  3. We must invite all the major media outlets, even if it is a vain exercise.
  4. We must cultivate the habit of having the same speech in public and private domains.
  5. We must have a formal system to appraise the values of our organization to
  6. We must follow the Islamic tradition of good record keeping - every thing our prophet has said is recorded.
  7. We must ask the new Imam speaker to present the scripted outline of the Khutba prior to speech
  8. We must ask all our speakers to provide an outline to keep it as a record and perhaps put it on the website.
  9. We must trust our speakers, but having a record of the speech is greater trust we owe it to the Ummah.
  10. We must advise our speakers to understand that they are not speaking to a monolithic group.
  11. We must advise our speakers to cut down any kind of incitement
  12. We must let them know their boundaries - let it be in a manual, and every speaker has to follow it.
  13. We must advise our speakers to be Women sensitive and guest sensitive (as non-Muslim attend Juma)
  14. We must acknowledge that no one is above the long term goodwill of our community.

ACCOUNTABILITY & ADMINISTRATION

A major overhaul needs to be considered in Administration of Mosques and Islamic Centers.
  1. Who should run our Mosques?
  2. If we do not have a manual specifying it, it is time we develop it.
  3. A Manual will keep the politics, favoritism, nepotism at a lower level.
  4. Qualifications must be verified by a paid third party CPA for serious accountability.
  5. All the financial transactions must be audited by a CPA.
  6. Women and Youth must be represented on the board.
  7. Board Voting must be confidential and un-identified to keep the freedom alive.
  8. No one should run the Mosque like the Patriarch of the family does - i.e., no unilateral decisions.
  9. The Board members must have the experience in management of professional, civic or community based organization, preference must be given to those who have served in non-Muslim organizations. We live in a real World, let's our actions be based on real world interactions.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

  1. We need to hire a public relations firm on a part time or full time.
  2. We need to verify all literature that is put out there.
  3. We need to remove the Hilali Translation of Quran from our Mosques.
  4. We need to learn to explain our Deen in more understandable terms, not in the old English.
  5. We need to make our mosques visitors friendly
  6. We need to train a few volunteers to handle the visitors, no one but the trained ones!


World Muslim Congress
GOOD FOR MUSLIMS - GOOD FOR THE WORLD

2 comments:

  1. The points listed can certainly help in improving the organization, management and public relations of Islamic organizations and mosque committies. But these will not be visible to the common Americans and can in no measure offset the propaganda against American Muslims and Islam. What is needed is a clear agenda to diffuse/ combat Islamophobia and build bridges with the mainstream society such as tabled in this articConfronting Islamophobia in America: Need for a Major Paradigm shift in Mosque Proceedings
    – A 12 point agenda for serious consideration by the board of all mosques and Islamic centers and the whole spectrum of Muslim community leaders in America.
    http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=6602
    le:

    ReplyDelete
  2. The points listed can certainly help in improving the organization, management and public relations of Islamic organizations and mosque committies. But these will not be visible to the common Americans and can in no measure offset the propaganda against American Muslims and Islam. What is needed is a clear agenda to diffuse/ combat Islamophobia and build bridges with the mainstream society such as tabled in this article "Confronting Islamophobia in America: Need for a Major Paradigm shift in Mosque Proceedings"
    – A 12 point agenda for serious consideration by the board of all mosques and Islamic centers and the whole spectrum of Muslim community leaders in America.
    http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=6602
    le:

    ReplyDelete

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quraan burning

Planned Muslim Response to Qur'an Burning by Pastor Jones on September 11 in Mulberry, Florida

PRESS RELEASE
August 19, 2013| Dallas, Texas

Mike Ghouse
Text/Talk: (214) 325-1916
MikeGhouse@aol.com

Mirza A Beg
(205) 454-8797
mirza.a.beg@gmail.com

www.WorldMuslimCongress.com


PLANNED MUSLIMS RESPONSE TO QUR'AN BURNING BY PASTOR JONES ON 9/11/13 IN MULBERRY, FLORIDA

We as Muslims plan to respond to pastor Terry Jones' planned burning of 3000 copies of Quran on September 11, 2013 in positive terms.

Our response - we will reclaim the standard of behavior practiced by the Prophet concerning “scurrilous and hostile criticism of the Qur’an” (Muhammad Asad Translation Note 31, verse 41:34). It was "To overcome evil with good is good, and to resist evil by evil is evil." It is also strongly enjoined in the Qur’an in the same verse 41:34, “Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.”

God willing Muslims will follow the divine guidance and pray for the restoration of Goodwill, and on that day many Muslim organizations will go on a “blood drive” to save lives and serve humanity with kindness.

We invite fellow Americans of all faiths, races, and ethnicities to join us to rededicate the pledge, “One nation under God”, and to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of fellow Americans. This event is a substitute for our 10th Annual Unity Day Celebration (www.UnitydayUSA.com) held in Dallas, but now it will be at Mulberry, Florida.

Unwittingly Pastor Jones has done us a favor by invigorating us by his decision to burn nearly 3000 copies Quran on September 11, 2013. Obviously he is not satisfied by the notoriety he garnered by burning one Qur'an last year.

As Muslims and citizens we honor the free speech guaranteed in our constitution. We have no intentions to criticize, condemn or oppose Pastor Terry Jones' freedom of expression. Instead, we will be donating blood and praying for goodness to permeate in our society.

We plan to follow Jesus Christ (pbuh), a revered prophet in Islam as well as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) – that of mitigating the conflicts and nurturing good will for the common good of the society.

We hope, this event and the message will remind Muslims elsewhere in the world as well, that violence is not the way. Muslims, who react violently to senseless provocation, should realize that, violence causes more violence, and besmirches the name of the religion that we hold so dear. We believe that Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to the mankind, and we ought to practice what we believe and preach. We must not insult Islam by the negative reactions of a few.

We can only hope it will bring about a change in the attitude of the followers of Pastor Jones, and in the behavior of those Muslims who reacted violently the last time Pastor sought notoriety – We hope this small step towards a bridge to peaceful coexistence would propel us towards building a cohesive society.

Like most Americans a majority of Muslims quietly go about their own business, but it is time to speak up and take positive action instead of negative reaction. May this message of peace and goodwill reverberate and reach many shores.

Lastly, we appreciate the Citizens of Mulberry, Florida, Honorable Mayor George Hatch, City Commissioners, police and Fire Chiefs for handing this situation very well. This will add a ‘feather of peace’ in the City’s reputation. We hope Mulberry will be a catalyst in showing the way in handling conflict with dignity and peace.

We thank the Media for giving value to the work towards peace rather than conflict.






URL- http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/08/planned-muslim-response-to-quran_18.html



Thank you.

CIVIL DIALOGUE

The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.