Executive Committee (2010-2011)

Minutes

January 14th 2010, 8:00 PM

Executive Committee (2010-2011) Meeting

Date: January 14^th, 2010

Time: 8:00 PM

Place: Islamic Center Library

Attendees:

Mahmood Mousa, Abubacker Kulam, Ihab Darwesh, Taufiqul Islam, Minhas Meghani, Nureini Dinki, Abuzar Saglik, Bassam Mahmood, Khaled Hammoud, Jamal Malek, Nadia El-Husseiny, Iffat Sumbal, Jamila Hanson, Faiza Hajiabdi, AbdulMajed Katranji

Agenda:

Leadership workshop review
Committee’s Plans & Budgets, committees’ Members & structure
Immediate needs:

Office Key to all in EC & Board - Status from Property Management
Accessing Office Computer - logins for all in EC & Board members - Status?

Immediate activities (community dinner, bake sale, Friday activity, News Letter....)
Recruitment of volunteers/ volunteer’s management ad hoc comm.
List of volunteer tasks review
Organizational structure chart
Discuss the ability of hiring a chairperson to improve the SS & serve the community. (Sr. Nadia)
Education workshop. (Br. Bassam)

Minutes:

EC Meetings:

It was decided that EC would meet every Thursday after Isha for the next three weeks till planning phase for 2010 is finalized for all committees.

Notice Boards Utilization:

Sr. Iffat brought the attention towards the misuse of notice boards space on the sisters’ side. It was discussed that we should have a better mechanism of posting ads/notices on the notice boards as there is no formal process and anyone can attach anything on the notice boards which in some cases not acceptable and deems inappropriate for the image of the masjid. Br Mousa offered to provide two notice boards with glass covered to provide better control of the space.

EC Meeting Minutes Posting:

It was brought to attention that should these meeting minutes be made public. No conclusion was reached and the issue will be discussed at a later date.

Leadership Workshop:

Br. Anwar Khursheed conducted leadership workshop on January 10^th. It was discussed how beneficial it was for the committee and how should the committee utilized the knowledge gained from the workshop.

Women’s Committee Plan:

Sr. Iffat provided the brief overview of Women’s committee role, organization, members and their respective duties, financial resources and planning for 2010. Sr. Iffat will provide the detail plan in writing.

Friday Night Circles/Activities:

Br. Mousa proposed that Friday halaqa should be a combined activity for the whole community instead of different genders and age groups conducting their individual circles. It was decided that every other Friday be a family night where there will be a combined halaqa for the whole family regardless of age, gender, etc. It was also decided to have different activities on Friday night to increase the attendance as well as mobilize the community.

Education’s Committee Plan:

Sr. Nadia provided a brief overview of Education committee plan. Sr. Nadia will provide the detailed plan for Education committee in writing. The emphasis was given to Sunday school. The issues regarding Sunday schools were male teacher recruitments, students’ attendance, and discipline in the classes. It was also suggested to bring Sister Jamila Jones, former full-time school principal, from Indiana every weekend to assist with Sunday school as well as other activities.

Coordination among different committees:

A better coordination is required among different as some of their responsibilities as well as their plan overlap each other and instead of each committee doing similar activities, these should be well coordinated to get the best possible outcomes. Some of the activities discussed were:

English learning classes coordinated by sisters could be also be utilized by Community Services Coordinator, Education Coordinator.

New Muslim education could also be shared between Dawah and Education committee.

Public Relations will also coordinate with Education and Dawah so activities could be shared and don’t overlap among different committees.

Education workshop:

Br. Hamid Gazali will be coming to Lansing on last week of February to conduct education workshop, especially for Sunday school. His expertise may also help GLIS for school accreditation.

Public Relations Committee Plan:

Br. Katraji presented a brief overview of how PR committee will perform its duties as well as personals responsible for different roles and activities and how he will coordinate with education and dawah coordinator. And he is also planning to bring a well known speaker in the Educational area to train the full-time school staffs. Br. Katranji will provide detailed plan in writing.

Dedicated room for womens’ activities:

A suggestion was made to have a dedicated room in school. The room will be used on daily basis by sisters for after hours, weekend and holiday activities.

Youth Committee Plan:

Br. Khaled Hammoud presented a brief layout of activities planned out for male youths, which would include halaqas, basket ball tournaments and other activities. Sr. Raghda would assist the youth activities on sisters’ side.

Dedicated room for finance coordinator:

Br. Abuzar suggested having a dedicated room for masjid finance attached to gymnasium.

Community dinner:

A community dinner will be held on last Saturday of this month. Ticket for individuals will be $5 each and $20 for the family.

Next Meeting:

January 21^st, 2010 after Isha

December 31st 2009, 8:00 PM

Attendees: Mahmood Mousa, Thasin Sardar, Minhas Meghani, Bassam Mahmood, Jamal Malek, Abubacker Kulam, Abuzar Saglik, Taufiqul Islam

Agenda:
• Committee Plans & Budgets
• Committee Members & structure
• Immediate activities (community dinner, bake sale, Friday activity, News Letter....)
• Recruitment tables after Friday
• Leadership workshop
• Education Workshop by Br Bassam
• Community Services Committee Plan by Br Taufiq

Minutes:

Rules and Regulations for attending EC Meetings:
The following items were discussed
EC meetings will be started right after Isha prayers. All participants are requested to attend the meeting on time. It was also requested that members should try to attend all the meetings and make sure they don't miss any meetings. In case some one is unable to attend the meeting, please assign a delegate to attend the meeting on behalf of that person.
in case a committee coordinator is not able to attend a meeting for any valid reason, then one of his/her assigned delegate must attend the meeting. We agreed that all coordinators to bring the name of their delegates in the next EC meeting. And in the following meeting, all the delegates would attend the EC meeting with their committee coordinator to get a first-hand experience of EC meetings.
Parking situation behind the Muslim house
Only half of the parking area adjacent to the Muslim house is ours, and the remaining half belongs to the apartment there, but our people occupy that entire parking area during Jumuah prayers, leaving no space for the people in the apartment. So we decided to hand out a printed materials about parking rules & options at the Islamic center.

Dawah Committee Plan for 2010;
Br Bassam discussed the summary of his plan for 2010 for Dawah committee.
The Dawah committee will be divided into three subcommittees.
The first subcommittee will be responsible for running activities inside the Islamic Center such as: Friday Circle, Friday Sermon, Ramadan Programs, Running Islamic teaching classes, etc.
The second subcommittee will be in charge of delivering the Dawah and introducing Islam to both inside and outside the Islamic Center. The subcommittee will train approximately ten brothers and sisters on how to educate non muslims about Islam. It will also be responsible for accepting invitation from other religious organization and also inviting others to Islamic Center. Dawah inside the prison will also be one of the responsibilities of this sub committee. There will be one person incharge of Dawah activities inside prison.
The third subcommittee will be responsible for working with education and PR committee to prepare activities through workshops that will benefit the community at large.
The complete plan will be provided in writing by next meeting.

Funeral Guidelines:
Br Bassam will also provide the guidelines for attending funeral by next meeting

Education Workshop:
There is a plan of hosting education workshop by the end of February. Details will be provided by Br Bassam, once the schedule is finalized with Br. Hamid Gazali.

Community Service Committee Plan – 2010:
Br Taufiq presented a draft version of his plan.
The committee will comprise of three sub committees.
1) This subcommittee will be responsible for community health and will try to provide the following services.
a. Health services to the community
b. Need assessment
c. Doctors Meeting about the health of the community in March 2010
2) This subcommittee will be involved in conflict resolution, premarital, parenting, and marriage counseling, in coordination with the Imam.
a. Selecting Counselor
b. Conflict resolution
c. Parenting counseling (Seminar/Workshop)
d. Premarital and Marriage counseling (Seminar/Workshop)
3) This subcommittee will provide services to refugees, in coordination with the Social and membership Committee and local refugee-service agencies.
Br Taufiq will provide the complete plan as soon as it is finalized.

Next Meeting:
January 14th, 2010 after Isha.

Date: December 17th 2009, 8:00 PM

Attendees: Mahmood Mousa, Nureini Dinki, Taufiqul Islam, Najm Salman, Thasin Sardar, Abubacker Kulam, Minhas Meghani, Abuzer Saglik, Khalid Abdallah, Jamal Malek, Sani Abbas, Farhan Bhatti, Bassam Mahmoud

Agenda:
There was no formal agenda for this meeting and was a follow up of last EC meeting.
Following were the issues and suggestions that were brought up in the meeting.

1) Status of transition process
Transition process is still going on from outgoing EC to the newly elected EC. No major issues were reported.
2) Selection of Imams for daily prayers and Friday Prayers
Br Bassam will provide his plan for Dawah Committee that will also include the process of selecting Imams for Daily Prayers.
3) Khateeb for Friday Prayers:
Khateebs for the next two Friday prayers will be finalized soon.
4) Recruitment of volunteers for new committees
Suggestions were made to appoint a person responsible for managing the list of activities as well as maintaining a database of personal interested in volunteer work and their relative expertise.
Another suggestion was made that each committee could provide a plan of action to the community after Maghrib or Isha prayer as well as to ask for volunteers to achieve theirs goals.
5) Communication among different members
It was verified that all new members are now part of EC email list and are receiving emails. It was also suggested that members should check their emails at least once a day for updates if any. Special emphasis was given to ask women’s committee coordinator or her representative to participate in all the EC meetings.

Next Meeting:
December, 31st 2009 after Isha

	2009 Executive Committee - Minutes of Bi-Weekly meetings Click this link to read minutes of the Executive committee meetings

General Assembly 2007 - Executive Committee reports

Click this link to download the report

Education Committee Report

By Zubair Ahmad

2008-09 SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Sunday School re-opened on September 9, 2008 after summer break with new administration and more streamlined admission procedures. The EC approved nomination of Br. Jawed A Faruqi as the new Principal of the Sunday School. Principal Faruqi is a CS and IT person employed with MSU. He is assisted by Br. Aftab in discharging his responsibilities. Prior to opening of school, the admission policy was streamlined and admission forms were pro-actively mailed to the parents for early registration with incentives to avoid rush on the first day of school. We hope parents and students will adapt to the new admission system in future years. The other significant change was streamlining of instructional material. Effective this year, the Sunday School started using the Weekend Learning Publishing books customized for weekly instructions. The books are based on 12-year curriculum laid down grade by grade. The curriculum is designed for each grade with 30 lessons a year for typical 30 days of weekend classes and each lesson finishing within class time. The current enrolment of the Sunday school is about 155 students (80 boys and 75 Girls). The Sunday school collected $12,500 in fee and donations. The most critical challenge facing the Sunday School is shortage of teachers, particularly the female teachers. Currently, the Sunday School teaching staff is comprised of 10 teachers (6 male and 4 female teachers).

General Assembly Archive

General Assembly Reports - April 05

General Assembly Reports - April 04

General Assembly Reports - December 03

General Assembly Reports - December 02

MSA eBoard - 2007-2008

President: Maweza Razzaq
Vice President: Ryan Strom
Finance: Jibril Jama
Community Service: Shimaa Mousa
Administrative Affairs: Fatima Foflonker
Education: Mahmood Farooqi
Media: Sabtain Khan
Outreach: Zain Shamoon
Public Relations: Bashir Hakim
Political Action: Nada Zohdy
Brothers' Social: Arshan Ahmad
Sisters' Social: Asma Hasan

General Assembly Meeting 2005

Friday, June 17, 2005
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Multipurpose Hall, Islamic Center
Attendance: Brothers ~35 and Sisters ~ 20
Minutes:

Executive Committee Annual Report - By Br. Asadullah Khan
Dawah Committee Report - By Br. Najm Salman
Information Committee Report - By Br. Muhammed Hammad
Financial Committee Report - By Br. Maher Mahmoud
Education Committee Report - By Br.Asad for Br. Zubair Ahmad
Expansion Project Report - By Br. Kabeer Sahib
Election for the Interim Executive Committee(2005-2006) - By Sh. Omer Soubani
Questions and Comments by the members and attendees
Library Volunteer. Let us organize it and put up a computer in the library to track the check in and check out. Br. Saad (from Pakistan) is willing to volunteer that job.
Give dawah during the time of Iftar or any dinner.
Sunday School Holidays. Let us preplan it for the whole year instead of announcing it at the last moment.
Social Programs. Let us preplan it to get more volunteers.
Let us give dawah to non-muslims in the Churches, Hospitals, and Prisions.
We can get Dawah fliers from ISNA, ICNA. Do we have any plans of publishing our own magazine to generate some income out of it?
Gym Schedule. Is there any specific time schedule for the kids and women? Br. Aftab (from Bangladesh) is willing to volunteer his time in the Gym.
Give dawah on the day of Eid-Al-Fitr, Eid-Al-Adha and even on Christmas Day. (Dr. Khan, Father of Br. Aftab)
Are we getting sufficient tax relief from the Consumers Energy since the masjid is a non-profit organization? Do we need to contact the city or political figures for the subsiding the cost of Consumers Energy? Dr. Abbasi.
To Consumers Energy, non-profit organizations does not make any difference to them, they consider it as a business organization, so we are not getting any subsdise from them so far. - Br. Maher.
We need to put up a neon sign outside the masjid to advertise any of our event to the public to attract more crowds even the non-muslims. (Dr. Mohmand from Pakistan)
We need to approach certain family for the masjid expansion and parking lot. That is the people who are coming to the masjid regularly.
Error in the new Constitution: Correct the sentence "support moderate organizations in Islam". It should be "support moderate organizations of Islam". - Br. Mustafa
It costs about $250, 000 to complete 2nd floor in the new building.
Select one or two people from different ethnic community and let the Dawa Committee train them, so that each of the trained people can give dawah to their own community in their language. - Br. Towfiqul Islam
Maintain cleanness in the Wudu area by not wearing toilet slippers/shoes in the wudu area.
We need to address one Khutba just to concentrate on the social aspects like cleaning. (Dr. Mohmand from Pakistan)
Start the Friday Khutba on time and finish it up on time since many people cannot afford to take more time than what they afford to take from their work due to their individual situations. (Dr. Mohmand from Pakistan)
Establish a volunteer a database system like the Dallas, TX masjid had done. Through which we can easily track our volunteer efforts and its status, and this would make our volunteer efforts more organized and managable. We can get help on this from Br. Thasin and Br. Abubacker.

Town Hall Meeting - Sponsored by Executive Committee (2004-2005)

Minutes:
Date: Saturday, June 04, 2005
Time: 6:30 PM
Place: Islamic Center

We need to have an accountability system in the masjid.
We should consider hiring a full-time manager for the masjid.
Establish a system for volunteers to have it more organized.
We need to have more and organized youth activities. We have not collected the pledges so far and we cannot start the parking lot project work until we collect all the money.
Open a day care in the two Muslim houses to generate income from the government. Start day care in the women's room
We can charge $10 monthly fee for parking and we can issue some kind of tokens. Or we can charge some parking fee on every Friday. Ask one time payment from everyone who park his or her car at the masjid for the parking lot project. Make sure to keep enough volunteers to take care of parking during any MSU events or games to generate income.
Hold halaqa and classes on a daily basis with different topics; something different from the Deen, which is beneficial to our community.
We need to make use of the talented people in our community.
We can arrange a small room for the younger kids when the parents come here for the prayer.
We need to maintain the Qutbah time and set the exact time for the Jumuah prayer.
We need to monitor the kids when we bring them to the masjid and we need to keep the masjid clean.
Paint job in the masjid is due.
Pray 2 rakat in the motion of paying the masjid's debt.
Shop groceries at the masjid kitchen store to support the masjid.
Religious accommodations in the schools, universities - we, the masjid, need to step in and help the Muslim students to get religious accommodation for them.
Bring the youth to the prayers and especially for the Jumuah prayer.
Increase the knowledge of Quran and learn Arabic language. Br. Harith is willing to teach Arabic in the masjid.
We need to let the people know what we have done in the past related to the debt we owe to NAIT. We need to assess what went wrong in the past.
Prioritization of the major project should be done democratically rather than within the EC.
We should consider the option of family membership instead of individual membership. Membership committee should do this job. We need to charge $75 for the family membership and $20 for students. We need to define clearly the difference between the formal paid member and informal member. Currently there is no benefit or extra advantage of being a member, so we should giving substantial discounts or some benefits to the paid member. Define the membership in the constitution clearly.
Establish Islamic kindergarten or day care for the small kids.
Everyone has to share his or her money, time and contribution. Have certain percentage of ethnic community in the Executive Committee.
Sisters need water fountain at the women's side, Bathroom renovation.
Present Islam door to door. Take care of Masjid Landscape.

Islamic Society of Greater Lansing - General Assembly January 28 2005

Reports received are listed below:

Sunday School Committee Report Zubair Ahmad

The Sunday School for 2004-05 started on September 19, 2004 and will InshaAllah continue through the Winter and Spring terms and will end on June 26, 2005. The School's academic session spans over a total of 41 weeks (Sundays), of which 30 are committed to instructional, 3 for two mid-term and one final examination; one for Teachers Meeting; and 8 for holidays on account of two Eids, national holidays; and spring and winter breaks. The school hosts pizza party on three occasions for students, teachers and parents: Eidul-Fitr, Eidul-Azha and End of the year program.

With the Blessings of Allah SWT, the Sunday Islamic School enrolled over 80 students for the year 2004-05 and raised over $5,000 in cash and some pending payments in enrollment fee. The main expense of Sunday school is purchase of books. The first consignment of books has been distributed to the students and the next shipment of the books is expected during December 2004 or early January 2005. The estimated cost of the book purchase is $2,500. The shipment of books was delayed due to non-payment of outstanding invoice from previous years, which was settled.

The Sunday School is completely managed by volunteer efforts. There are 9 male and 11 female teachers including two administrative aides. These persons devote 1-3 hours on each Sunday when the school is in session. May Allah SWT reward them for their efforts and contribution. The Sunday School experience is only possible with the blessing of Allah SWT, community participation and the efforts of these volunteers. The Sunday School starts at 10 AM (at 11 AM in spring) and terminates after about three hours at Salat Zuhr to allow students pray with the parents. Snacks and fruit juice is provided on each school day during a 15-minute break.

Since last year, the Sunday School has introduced the concept of substitute teacher who is an alternate designated person to teach when a teacher is absent. Majority of the teachers are connected with the principal via e-mail for updates and notifications. May Allah SWT make this year rewarding for the students, parents, teachers and all those individuals who are directly or indirectly providing their services to the Sunday School.

Year-Women’s Committee Report: by Sr. Sue

The Women’s Committee, elected to serve for 2005-2006, agreed to enact a 6-month transitional plan in order to accommodate the new constitution. Officers understood the limited time we would serve but that didn’t stop us from enjoying many successes throughout our tenure.

Successes:
We initiated an e-talk group for the executive committee to stay in touch about the women’s issues we were facing on a day to day basis. This enhanced the communication across all workgroups.

We sent a representative to the Executive Committee Meetings of the Greater Lansing Islamic Center (GLIC) every other Thursday to bring the Women’s committee issues to the men and created an avenue for both sides to stay informed about each other’s activities.

We contributed to the rewrite of the GLIC Constitution.

We had a successful babysitting program during Taraweeh this year.

We held a welcome party for new sisters, held Eid parties for sisters and also children parties during Eid at Casesarland.

We engaged the MSA students as members on the committee. We thank them for their assistance on various projects: Open House, reserving rooms at MSU for activities, & cleaning, babysitting, and generally assisting each other on scheduled events.

We offered Two Arabic Classes, (one in the Masjid and one outside of the Masjid), and one English class.

The women contributed significantly to the Open House held in May.

We also created a service learning program with Vanderbilt University. 12 students will be arriving in March to assist our community as part of the student’s “Alternative Spring Break”.

Various Fundraising activities were held, i.e., the kid's carnival , and the Friday sales of food/drinks.

The women’s committee set up a class and taught some convert sisters how to pray.

We recognize and thank Sr. Lul for the continuation of her successful kitchen project and store.

The Women experienced some trials as well, many of which are unresolved so we send them forth as recommendations for action to the next committee.

Unresolved Issues:

Properly utilizing the space in the masjid to facilitate events. This last 6 months the Women’s room underwent renovation, and to date we have not been allowed access to return to the room. Attempts are being made to work out this issue, but the next committee will need to address this issue. Women need space to hold halaqas, learn Qur’an, English, etc and we continue to struggle to find space.

Unsupervised children running through the masjid- While the majority of the mothers supervise the children we have found situations where kids without supervision are in the masjid, running free creating a disturbance for both men and women’s halaqas. This must be corrected.

Dawah Committee Report: by Br. Najim Salman

The Da’wa committee is striving to serve this community in the best possible way. Our goal is to spread knowledge of Deen while following the Sunah of our prophet Mohammed (sala Allahu alaihui wasalam).

The Da’wa committee is responsible for conducting several programs:
-Arranging the speaker of Jum’ah prayer.
-Two short talks (Khaters), Monday and Thursday.
-Friday Daras (lecture)
-Arranging Ramadan program.
-Short Talk after Fajer prayer.
In addition to the above programs, we are also involved in other interesting activities that serve the community and spread the message of Islam such as: going to churches and hospitals as they request from us, replying to local invitations, and replying to questions we receive by email. - We are also planning to have an event for new Muslims this coming January of 2006, and we have more ideas still under study to do in the near future.

As I have been serving in the Da’wa committee for almost two years, I have developed the following thinking: Da’wa is the responsibility of each person and not only for certain peoples. Every person could do so much, if he or she has the will and sincerity. We all should be part of the committee even if we are not a member of it. We all should educate ourselves and families to participate in this program. Do not be little whatever you could do, because if you don’t do it, it is a loss for all Muslims. Therefore, I really encourage every single Muslim in our community, even the little ones, to participate and be proactive, because it will be saved for you in a day that no wealth and offspring would help except the one who comes with pure heart. (talking about the Day of Judgment when you meet the Allah, SWT).

May Allah Subhanhu watala guide all, increase our knowledge, and grant us good behavior and wisdom.
June 2005– January 2006 Executive Committee Reports

Information Committee Report: by Br. Abdoul Karim
The following is the progress of the information committee’s plans:
- The cataloguing of English collections of the Islamic Center Library is going well. The classification of books in English in different subjects has been completed. What is remaining is to label the books and store them in the library software. We are looking for brothers/sisters who are willing to help in cataloguing the books in Arabic.
- Library Hours: The Islamic Center Library is now open every day between Maghrib and Isha prayers.
- Muslim directory: the update of the data base of the Islamic Center of Greater Lansing has been almost completed. The community Muslim directory will soon be available.
May Allah reward all the volunteers of the information committee for their time.

Br. Abdoul Karim, Information Committee Coordinator

Not provided.

Social Committee Report: by Abu Faiza

The following activities and events were organized or involved by the social committee.
Summer Picnics

Upon assuming the responsibility, the committee organized two community picnics during the summer. The picnics were attended by 350 and 200 people. New refugees from Russia and Somalia were invited to these events and get acquainted with the community.

Ramadan Activities

The committee organized Iftars for singles during the whole month of Ramadan. The dinners were free of charge and sponsored by generous brothers and sisters in our community. The center provided dinner supplies and drinks.

The committee in cooperation with the president organized four community dinners on Saturday during Ramadan. These dinners were attended by the majority of the community. The committee volunteers and MAS scouts did an excellent job to make these dinners comfortable enjoyable events.

The committee served tea and sometimes sweet following the community dinners or teravih prayers. Sahur dinners were also provided by the center in the last 10 days of Ramadan.

Other activities
The committee planned to organize sport activities and tournaments during the summer. We could not find enough young people interested in these events. However, some sport activities such as basketball and soccer were resumed by small groups. On the other hand, our youths were involved in many summer activities organized by MAS Lansing Chapter such as summer camps.

In this short period, the social committee tried to do its best to serve the muslim community in Lansing. However, the lack of enough interest and involvement by our community members prevented us from planning and executing better and larger activities. The spirit of Volunteerism and Serving the Community has not developed in our community as we see in other religious communities. We see certain brother and sister doing all the work around. Every member of the community should come forward to help and execute any activities happening in our center. We should not expect others to serve us all the time. We should always keep in mind that serving muslim community is serving Islam

Finally, we would like to thank our members all of our brothers and sister who contributed the social committee. The committee especially thanks the Sultans restaurant for providing food for our activities with almost no cost.

Archive of previous Executive Committee Meetings