Transforming

A

into a مسجدUniversity

BY

Ali Mujahid

Transform me into a university. Then you would see a change in the Ummah

PrefaceThe following booklet is completely based on my experience. This is not a scholarly work, and I am not a scholar. Probably this might be the reason why I am really intimidated when writing this booklet. First of all I would like Allah (SWT) to forgive me of any mistake then I would like to ask my muslims brothers & sister to forgive me if I made a mistake in this manual.

Introducing

The Game of PerceptionIf I were to say; I am fighting for peace, it would

seem a noble cause. It would sound more nobler if I

were to say I am struggling for peace. If I were to

say that I am fighting for Islam (Arabic word for

peace) the whole image changes drastically.

Similarly if I were to say I am committing Jihad

(Arabic word for struggle for a just cause) people

would definitely get scared. This is the power of

perception. How does perception works it’s really

simple. Just remember this equation:

WORDS = IMAGES

Here is another example when we say the word

crusade the image that comes to our mind is

intolerance. If we have to make a quick and fast

decision then we rely on our perceptions; the

danger comes in when we are carrying false

perceptions. The only reason why we have false

perceptions is that when there is a gap between

information and knowledge.

As we get older we gain more personal experiences

our perceptions get stronger and we get more

stubborner. Have you ever wondered why is it so

difficult to explain Islam to born Muslims then to

non Muslims. Well the non Muslim has a weaker

perception about Islam, he/she are willing to listen.

On the other hand a born Muslim has stronger

perceptions about Islam. The born Muslims

perceptions were build by the community and

his/her parents. So if a child sees’s the whole

community celebrating the Prophet’s Muhammad’s

(PBUH) birthday he/she would see no harm in it.

Although this act has nothing to do with Islam but

still this particular individual would believe that this

is an act of worship.

In our time media is playing a vital role in building

perception of the people. Unfortunately media only

provides information and we take it as the ultimate

knowledge. Our challenge is to distinguish between

knowledge and information’ then only we can bring

about a positive image of Islam. We as Muslims

have to learn the forgotten art of communication

so that Muslims and Non Muslims can carry a

positive image of Islam.

Throughout this booklet I will

be challenging and playing

with your perception. So sit

back and relax. It would be

highly beneficial if you have

a pen and paper ready for

some activities.

Activity 1

During the Jumah Khutbah your Emam says that

from today this masjid would be treated like a

university. What are the first three thoughts that

would come to your mind ?

1.____________________________________

2.____________________________________

3.____________________________________

Activity 2

Now please state your three characteristic of a

University

1. _______________________________

2. _______________________________

3. _______________________________

A New Perception

University=مسجد

My perception of a University:

A university is a place where problems and

challenges facing humanity are solved. It is also

where people are trained to face the challenges

currently are societies are going through. During

the past few years technology has allowed us that

we do not need huge campuses and big budgets.

My Perception of a مسجد

This is an empty hall with wall to wall carpeting

with some excellent lighting and sound system. It

is a place where we muslim men meet or should

meet five times a day. A good Muslim who prays

five times a day spends only one hour in the

masjid.

Prayer

Fajar

Dhur

Minutes

10 minutes

10 minutes

Asr

Maghrib

Isha

10 minutes

10 minutes

10 minutes

It seems to be wastage of resources so I would like

to suggest making it a University.

The Stakeholder of the

مسجدThere are basically 4 stakeholders in the masjid:

1. The Attendee

2. Emam

3. Masjid committee

4. Executive Committee

All of the above mentioned are important for the masjid to strife and prosper. If you wish to convert the masjid into a university then we need to involve all of the Stakeholders

A New Perception

Attendee=Knowledge SeekersIn my experience there are three types of people who come to the mosque.

I. The one who comes regularly 5 to 4 times a day

II. The one who comes 2 to 1 time a day

III. The Friday and the Eid prayers

The question we have to ask is that why do they come to the mosque. The answer is very simple, they want to make the creator happy. The attendee have the hope that with the act of salah they might be able to achieve the mercy of their Lord.

Most of the time the masjid committee especially in the Islamic countries takes them for granted. They satisfied because these people are regular. It is the responsibility of the masjid to improve them through engaging them in different activities. You may ask what type of activities, well for start start calling them knowledge seeker. Whoever enters the mosque even once sould be considered as a knowledge seeker. It is the responsibility of the masjid to make sure that his/her thirst of knowledge should increase. It is through

knowledge people would come close to Allah(SBWT).

The masjid should also facilitate them in becoming an excellent learner, no matter how old or young they may be.

A New Perception

Dean=امام

Activity 3

Imagine your Masjid Emam becomes the Dean or

Principle of your masjid. What will be the first three

thought that would enter your mind

1. ____________________________

2. ____________________________

3. ____________________________

It is commonly perceived that Emam in your

masajid have these roles:

The individual who leads the salah

Gives the Friday sermons

Performs Nikah, Janazah and other ritualistic

acts

Teaches children Quran.

On the other hand if the emam transform himself

as a dean his role would be more dynamic. He

would transform himself into a master learner.

Primarily he would be motivated to learn new skills.

Secondly he would spend more time in designing

curriculum and lesson plan for the whole

community.

To be more specific the Emam would be developing

three types of curriculums :-

1. For the whole community

2. A curriculum for small groups

a.Youth group

b.Women

c.Working Men

3. For individuals

I can understand this does look a humongous task,

buts it’s not. On the other hand its quiet simple.

Just follow these steps simple steps.

Step One

The curriculum would base on Surah Al Asr. Allah

(SWT) simply states that the whole humanity as at

the state of loss except for those who have Eman,

do good deeds, call people to the truth and have

patience. In simple words Emam have to make

sure that his community is applying to the Surah Al

Asr.

Step Two

The Emam have to look for the gaps within the

community, group and individuals. Then try to fill it

with the Surah Al Asr.

Desired StateCurrent State

Knowledge Gap

EmanGood Deeds

Invitation to the truth

Patience

For example if the community is involved in

increasing the eman and in good deeds but are not

so active in calling people to the truth then it is the

duty of the emam to make sure that this gap is

fulfilled.

Another small task for the emam is that he has to

train the future emam of the community. Since he

is the dean he could not do everything by himself.

He has to develop a team to assist him. This would

be his faculty

A New PerceptionOrganizational Developer=Masjid

Committee

Activity 4

Your masjid committee decides from now on they

are organizational developer (Please check

Wikipedia if you want to know who are

“Organizational developers”). Your first three

thoughts

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

Masjid committee are usually involved in the

following task

Cleaning the masjid on Thursday night

Maintenance

Bills

Event Managements

Organizational developer is a new field. Its main

task is to conduct diagnosis and provide a solution

or an intervention. Organizational developer

focuses on procedures; they are trained to design

procedure which would make the organization

more effective. Issues like masjid politics,

distribution of zakat funds, public relation crisis and

so forth. Any issue which could hinder or boost the

effectiveness of the masjid should be recognized

by the organizational developer. And a proper

intervention should be proposed with a

implementation strategy.

Challenge or Improvement

Diagnosis

Recommended InterventionImplementation

Feedback

Executive BoardI really am not sure wheater all masaajids have executive board or not. They are basically the founders of the masjid. If they are not the founders then my experience have shown that they are the rich people of the masjid (The last statement is my Perception). Their main tasks includes:-

Monitoring the masjid committee Giving or rejecting proposals of huge project

like schools and masjid expansions

However their main task should be to develop a strategic document. This document should be developed and designed by the entire stakeholder. Furthermore this document would assist the next generation to which direction they should take the masjid.

Activity

Please answer the following questions

Where do see your masjid in a 100 years?

What would be the impact of this masjid in 100 years?

Who would be the stakeholders in a hundred years?

After answering these question the masjid would know which direction they would be heading. Now the stakeholders have to develop a plan how to reach that desitination. Every decision, every activity have to be based on the 100 years plan.