In the Name of Allah the most Beneficent the most Merciful
Minutes of our deliberation at the eight meeting of the Nigeria Muslim Council Ireland hosted by the Jamatul Islamiyah Drogheda held within the mosque premises of Raodotu Soliheen Drogheda on the 26th Feb.2011.
Attendance:
- Lukman Yekini----------------------------------------Dublin
- AbdulAfeez Jimoh----------------------------------Balbriggan Muslim Community
- AbdulWaheed Olateju--------------------------------Dublin
- Olajide Moses Ogunse--------------------------------Edenderry
- Bakare Abolaji Ibraheem---------------------------Jamatul Islamiyah, Drogheda
- Wasiu Olajide------------------------------------------Ridiwanulai Society, Carlow
- Hakeem Onabote--------------------------------------- “ “ “
- Kazeem Ogunbambi--------------------------------Raodotu Soliheen, Drogheda
- Oladiti Olaniyi-----------------------------Alkunfayakun prayer group, Waterford
- Monsuru Shomide------------------------------------Dawah Islamic group, Dublin
- Tesleem Ojewale---------------------------------------- “ “ “ “
- Bashir Braimoh--------------------------Alkunfayakun prayer group, Waterford
- Abd-Muiz Afolabi Kekere-Ekun--------------------Jamatul Islamiya, Drogheda
- Bashiru Oluwatoyin Adigun------------------------- “ “ “
- Ganeeu Badru----------------------------------------- “ “ “
- Bolaji Baruwa----------------------------------------- Raodotu Soliheen, Drogheda
- Nojim Abayomi Awoyemi-------------------------- Jamatul Islamiyah, Drogheda
- Rauf Oluwatosin Akinwunmi---------------------------Athlone Muslim Congress
- Kareem Kunle Yusuff----------------------------------- “ “ “
- Tajudeen Bolaji---------------------------------Muslim Association Forum, Dublin
- Ali Ogunseye-------------------------------------- “ “ “ “
- Abd-Kabir Olufade------------------------------- “ “ “ “
- Musliudeen Taiwo------------------------------- “ “ “ “
- Abdul-Mojeed Usamot----------------------------Nuur Islam, Navan
- Bashir Jumart---------------------------------------Raodotu Soliheen, Drogheda
- Nuruddeen Busairi----------------------Al-kunfayakun prayer group, Waterford
- Abdul-Ganiyu Asubiaro-------------- Raodotu Soliheen – l –Islam,Drogheda
- Fatai Akinlawon
- Shabakiu Sanusi--------------------------------Athlone Muslim Congress
- Monsurat Adediran-------------------------------Dawah Islamic group, Dublin
- Shakirat Yusuf-------------------------------------Edenderry
- Fawziyyah Emiabata--------------------Alkunfayakun prayer group, Waterford
- Monsurat Mustapha Apooyin------------------Raodotu Soliheen, Drogheda
- Zainab Kenku-------------------------------------Balbriggan
- Juwayriya Alausa---------------------------------Jamatul Islamiyah, Drogheda
- Mariam Yusuf-------------------------------------Athlone Muslim congress
Has it’s been our tradition in any Muslim gathering; we started the meeting in earnest at exactly 2:20pm with an opening Dua’a by Bro Luqman Yekini (Edenderry group). This was followed with a short Quranic lecture by Bro Olajide Moses Ogunse focusing on the essence of unity, obedience, responsibility and faithfulness to Allah. The secretary(mallam Abdullah Akeem Ahmed) read the minutes of the last deliberation, observation , correction and necessary amendment were carried out mostly in the appropriateness of name spelling of members and the organization they represent.Bro Akeem Onabote called for the adoption of the minutes while being seconded by Imam Monsur Somide.
Matter-Arising
The co-coordinator (Bro Afeez Jimoh)- Apologised on behalf of the steering committee Members for the late schedule of the general meeting and gave his word that subsequent meetings would be called promptly. On this note Alfa Abdulmojeed Usamot did advise on the need for members to be consulted on the suitability of time before passing the date of meetings round, in the same vein, Bro Ibrahim Bolaji Bakare also advised members to always imbibe the Culture of putting our phones on silence while in meetings in order to guide against un-necessary distraction.
Bro Afeez continuing before being interjected, told the house that one of the cogent and vital need which facilitated today’s meeting is to expedite action on the registration process by getting the necessary portion of our registration document signed appropriately by members who appended their signature earlier on our code of conduct, that one new standard form had been obtained to facilitate this process.
Bro Nuruddeen Busairi(Alkunfayakun group) expressed the fear and concern of his group that unless & until the mission board is formed & the code of conduct is fully accepted and passed, the appendage of their group’s signature to the document of registration would not be done, hinting that it’s the position they have already taken and to be sustained.
The secretary who is also the secretary to the group of the last speaker responded that seek first the kingdom of God and all other things shall follow that all we are trying to achieve for now is legitimacy which will legalize our activities as a group in Ireland, that we should be mindful of the fact that we all are living in an environment where the rule & respect for law is held in high esteem moreso as genuine Muslims we are oblige to comply by letting the government be aware of our existence and activities for us not to be misconstrue for already Muslims all over the world have been disdained & stigmatized as dangerous elements in our various societies so for us to be respected and be taken serious we have to play according to the rule of the land otherwise we could be rounded up in meetings by the Gardai.
Alfa Usamot Commended Bro Busaira for his observation but toed the path of the secretary that Islam stands for truth & respect for human rights, he went ahead that since Islam has been bedeviled overtime for personal interest and gain there is need for us to be more careful in our dealings so as not to fall victim or play to the gallery where all our past efforts would not yield the necessary dividends expected.
Bro Musliudeen Taiwo Said since we have agreed for every head of each Muslim group to come together and form the mission board of NMCI, he found the need for them to attending general meetings in order to get their selves familiarized and entrenched with issues concerning the council in order to proffer suitable Islamic / spiritual guidance. Corroborating this position Bro Nuruddeen Busairi added that since we have a steering committee already in existence they should facilitate their meeting immediately without taking much time.
The coordinator quickly informed the house that even though we would be having the mission board their role or function would be for spiritual guidance according to the dictate of Quran while still the board of trustee as required by our code of conduct still stand supreme as stipulated in the management section. Meanwhile he told the house that the present steering committee is not interested in staying more that necessary for the disposition of their responsibilities. This curbed all manners of suspicion while eventually we all agreed to append our signature to the standard form for registration.
On appointing board of trustee members as enshrined in the code of conduct and registration form, Bro Musliudeen Taiwo posited that people should be allowed to have more time for deliberation on it because of its importance and relevancy in deciding the stance of the organization, defining and shaping the vision of the group.
Bro Munir Oladiti talked in the same vein that such decision should not be made in a rush he added that even if it will take us putting it to vote it worth doing.
Bro Nuruddeen Busairi suggests we have a constituted house first before having a constituted board of trustee if we are to make any significant headway.
Bro Wasiu Olajide supported the view of some of the earlier speakers to have election done before dabbling into the formation of board of trustees, that what we should be talking about now is the modalities for conducting election and for the documents, it should be allowed for members to take it to their various cluster groupings for more deliberation before finally appending signature on it.
Bro Fatai Akinlawon - Ceased the opportunity to expressed how he became a Muslim and further pointed out that Islam over the years had been bedeviled by antagonism by Muslims which seems to be the bane for the laying of a solid foundation for the up-coming generation to consolidate upon. He concluded that Islam is an interesting religion which accommodates all shades.
Bro Abdkabir Olufade added that the documents in question ought to have been explained to the congregation before calling for the meeting. He opined that the head of the mission board and their secretary should be saddled with signing the necessary documents in order to expedite action on the processes of our registration.
Bro Ali Ogunseye noted that this is his second time of attending the meeting though he is short of appropriate information regarding to what extend the organization must have gone but did advised we expedite action so as to to have a constituted assembly in order to get the organization registered.
Bro Tajudeen Bolaji Chipped in that we should get election done first before seeking for registration. This view was equally supported by Bro Waheed olateju and Bro Kunle Yusuf. But Imam Monsur Somide politely disagreed and took exception that instead we seek registration first before putting other structures in place that election is something that can be done later.
Bro Shabakiu haven listen to various shades of opinion on the issue of discussed advised we borrow a leaf from those who must have had theirs done and use it as a guide in quickening our process of registration in order to attain the height of legitimacy as required by the law of the land.
Bro Kazeem Ogunbambi also opined that a time line should be drawn for the code of conduct to be operated while a constitutional drafting committee should simultaneously be put together to come up with an acceptable legislation for the organization to be put forward for registration at the expiration of the code of conduct which definitely have a live span.
Alfa Mojeed Usamot blamed the steering committee for the lapses, that such issue should have been long dealt with and shouldn’t have been brought to the floor for discussion but for the lack of trust and suspicion the amalgamated bodies are having on the steering committee made them to want to be over transparent thereby causing unwarranted delay in some task. He went ahead to say if we don’t agree with his disposition on the issue we could put it to vote in order to decide which decision to follow.
Bro Bashir Ibrahim in his own opinion suggested we put the issue at stake to vote in order to have headway.
Bro Afeez Jimoh, Arising from the statement from some members that the present steering committee members have not done anything impressive since their commencement of duty. He went on memory lane to remind the house that it was the general meeting of the group held in Waterford that gave birth to the present steering committee with the task and responsibility to oversee the affairs of the group till when we would be fully registered as a legitimized entity in Ireland. But as they commenced their responsibility their task had been bedeviled firstly by lack of trust from the members in discharging their duties which brought about suspicion and a times usage of terms & languages that are heinous and un-Islamic, secondly altitude of various cluster grouping for not taking time to study the code of conduct before coming for meetings which would have made our deliberation easier and result oriented. All these made us to move at the pace which we are moving now.
Responding from the women’s section was Sis Fauziya Emiabata who agreed to the earlier position as been made by some members that we should put the necessary structure in place i.e. mission board, board of trustees etc before proceeding for registration that it would help in galvanizing and facilitating our registration processes.
The secretary in Clarification said in order to save further arguments and counter arguments gave clarification on the issue of the registration that the registration of the organization at this material time stand supreme most to all other issues in that it gives basis for our existence as a group, all we want to achieve so that we can be operating with no any form of fear of intimidation or apprehension from the state. He went ahead to say constitution of any organization even of a country could be subject to amendment at anytime the members agree to do so, that its all a matter of writing to inform the necessary Authorities or Departments concern of the changes carried out which would be noted and effected appropriately. It is the situation we find ourselves today in Ireland that necessitates this approach which requires us to be more careful with the way we go about our things or function as a body. But Bro Bolaji Bakare insisted that it has been the practice in most organization that constitution normally comes before election in that it determines and spell out the kind of offices available and the responsibilities of such office holder and how they interact for the growth of the organization. He also added that for our meeting deliberation to run to time we would need to appoint a moderator in order to moderate the time apportion for each speaker in any of our sitting.
Alfa Mojeed Usamot, haven realized the competency and sincerity of the steering committee sounded apologetic that he deliberately accused the committee of dragging their feet in the discharge of their duties to challenge them in order to sit up and do more but he didn’t mean to pull them down. He supported the appointment of a moderator for every of our meeting.
Imam Monsur Somide, at this point suggested the formation of a constitution drafting committee to start putting heads together while the ongoing effort to seek for the registration of the organization be allowed to continue so that we would be working in double edge. This view was supported by Bro AbdKabir Onifade.
At this stage the coordinator did put it to the general floor for the members to respond if we should put it to voting in order to save ourselves of the cherished time. This view was equally supported by Bro AbdulGaniyu Asubiaro.
Bro Kazeem Ogunbambi, haven been listening to various views presented by members did ask were we blinded before we appended our signatures to the code of conduct, that we shouldn’t abuse the sincerity of the present steering committee while they should be allowed & supported to meet –up their task.
The secretary responded that the present steering committee were discharging their duties to this noble body in the spirit of sincerity, transparency and democracy so that the activities or document for registration would reflect the genuine yearning and aspirations of members which we believe conform with the spiritual principle of Islam.
Bro Nuruddeen Busairi, still maintained that we follow the due process without which his group will find it difficult to append their signature, This triggered the coordinator to demand from the house if the present committee should be allowed to go ahead in signing the necessary documents or appoint amongst members to do so and where this is not being authorized by the house he requested we put it to vote which eventually received the blessing of the house. Voting was done, 16 were in support that we should go ahead with the registration before election while 4 were against.
A.O.B / General
Information came from Imam Monsur Somide that the Irish government has passed the Bill which legalizes the operation of sharia compliance banking/finance; in view of this a brother is offering training free of charge for any intending beneficiary. This training is offered in collaboration with mid-land school of UK & Ideal Business College Dublin, though the programme has started already but members from NMCI can still be accommodated by contacting Bro Monsur Somide.
Sister Fauziya Emiabata commended Bro Monsur Somide for availing members with this kind of information that it would expose members to fortune of opportunities. She also ceased the opportunity to advertise an Islamic sister’s magazine for member’s patronage which according to her would help douse backbiting; gossiping & slandering if well read and comprehended by every Muslim. It was encouraged for every Muslim to be in possession of the magazine because of the spiritual and moral lesson contained therein.
Bro Ali Ogunseye re-emphasized the consideration for time management during meetings and equally advised for the agenda of our meeting to be circulated before the days sitting in that it would help the participating members to consult and prepare before coming to meetings. He also mentioned his observation for lack of due respect to the present executive by participating members in view of the enormous work they are doing for the organization.
The house logically arrived at some issues to be set for the next meeting amongst which are;
- Constituting the constitution drafting committee
- 2. Formation of the mission board
Bro Musa Ogunse ceased the opportunity to inform the house about his new release CD (who is Muhammed pbuh) to be launched on the 9th April 2011.
The next meeting to be hosted by the Dawah Islamic group, Tallagh, Dublin on the last Saturday of April’11.
The meeting was brought to an end @ 5:30pm with a closing prayer by Bro Nuruddeen Busairi.
Ma-salaam
No comments:
Post a Comment