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Accountability in our Mosques through participation
10-17-2017
In our last editorial we talked about holding our community leaders accountable. It can only happen if we all commit ourselves to take an active role in our local communities and mosques. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have raised such issues in our editorials.
On numerous occasions, we have tried to highlight the importance of public interests and participation in democratic process. Time after time, our appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears. This is the tragedy of Muslim Ummah across the globe. This needs to change, and it starts with each one of us.
Fortunately, unlike other places, and other cities. The largest Muslim Association in BC, is fully democratic, accountable, and transparent. However, to its members. Despite such an avenue being available to local Muslim community members. The membership in each branch barely surpasses one hundred. However, at each branch’s Annual General Meeting, officials usually scramble to meet the magic number fifty, to meet the quorum. As well as each branch officials scramble to persuade eleven individuals to become directors. Most of the branch directors take charge as being acclaimed. We are ever so grateful to all those who step to take on the challenge to serve the community. They sacrifice countless hours away from their family and their work to ensure the largest Muslim association in the province, and most probably in Canada functions appropriately.
We need to reflect upon this and see through the sacrifice and take some load off the shoulders of those who dare to take on this challenge.
For instance, BCMA’s largest Mosque, Richmond Masjid had a list of sixteen nominees, which has slowly been reduced to eleven, as nominees after nominees withdrew their names. Resulting in BCMA Election Committee announcing the acclamation of eleven candidates without elections.
Our participation within our mosques is extremely important. The first step to this would be for everyone to become members. Firstly, it provides a financial contribution in our membership fees, which immediately boosts the association to carry out its functions in serving the community. Secondly, it provides the association with a fresh pool of candidates for future directors. Especially if the new membership is more reflective of our youth, where they can find mentors in older generation who can guide them to be our future leaders.
We need to realize that our youth are not in touch with our mosques, its politics, its administration, and how it conducts its affairs. This needs to be changed, and change soon.
We have a large bank of experience, even some of the founding members of the BCMA who are still among us. They have dedicated their lifetime making this a very successful organization. To ensure its success, our participation is of utmost importance. Their dedication and sacrifice must not go in vain.
If we fail to capitalize on this opportunity towards a smooth transition to a younger generation, we may miss a very important and crucial point in time.
This crucial point in time we can choose to either let the past haunt us and continue the status quo as is, or we can rise above our personal comfort zone and take an active role in our community’s affairs and its politics. This is the only way to ensure the long-term viability of our community, and safeguard it from corruption or abuse and our community’s name being tainted in future by few individuals.
We have to take a lesson from an ugly episode which was close to home, the Masjid Al-Hidayah scandal, two weeks ago, which has raised a red flag on Muslims of British Columbia. If we fail to learn from our past mistakes, we are bound to be haunted by it in future.
Fortunately, the Masjid Al-Hidayah is not part of the BCMA, hence majority of our community was immune from the negative impact that made headlines.
Many of the BCMA Mosques are now in process of holding their AGM. We urge all community members, whether BCMA members or not to attend these AGM and experience the transparency and accountability first hand.
In addition, BCMA will also be holding Association’s AGM in next week. We should take our time to learn more about the organization, its financials, the hard work directors and executives in running this organization.
Hopefully it would encourage people to become members, and in future take part in running the association’s affairs.
BCMA prides itself as an open, transparent, democratic, fully accountable to its members, and always welcoming new members in its fold.
It is time to strengthen one of the largest Muslim organizations in the country with capital assets spread across the province from interior to northern BC, to Vancouver Island.
This is the only way to ensure the long term viability of our community.
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