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Respected Scholars, |
The running of our Jamat is an experience that I cherish and I am always grateful to the General for the opportunity, but it is a learning experience. It is only through looking at what didn’t work so well, that we are able to find new solutions to the problems that we face and thus I urge you to come forward with any recommendations and suggestions.
Our Ramadhan functions would not have been possible without the selfless dedication of many people. I would like to thank:
Fistly, our respected scholars, Shk. Arif, Shk Rashid Shk. Mahmood Dhalla , Skh. Ali Reza Walji and Syed Mohammed Naqvi who shared some wise words with us during this special month.
I would also like to thank, the gents and the ladies team in charge of the Quran Khani . My thanks also goes to The Mohammedi Medrasaa Staff for looking after the Koran Kahni and arranging activities for our children. Also vote of thanks to Our Mullah Kassam for helping with the amal nights. To all the reciters of duas and ziyrats in this month thank you.
The delicious food that we have enjoyed eating this past month has been made possible by the hard work of many, including our mukhi Br. Sajjad Pradhan, our terrific cooks and their helpers, the kitchen and the imambaragh volunteers both in ladies and gents . To the volunteers I thank you all on behalf of the community for feeding us before yourselves. May Allah give you tofiq to continue this admirable service?
Thanks should also be extended to the car park volunteers who have been looking after our cars and organising some barbequed delights at Iftaar time.
A word of thanks should also go to our caretaker Murtaza Bhai Raza for looking after our complex at all hours during this month.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my EC for their help and support during this month. A special thanks to our Secretary Br Rizvan Ramjee and his secretariat team for ensuring the smooth running of daily programmes and the AV system.
This month I have been overwhelmed by two things.
Firstly by the record numbers in attendance during this month. From speaking with many of you, I can see that you appreciated being able to break your fast at the mosque, and this has brought a community spirit of togetherness in our centre.
Secondly, during this month we have collected a total of nearly £80,000 in just 30 days. This is truly astounding! Let me tell you how this figure is made up. For the Niyaz fund, we have collected £28,243 adding GIFT AID to this brings the figure to approximately £30K. For the Pakistan Relief Fund we have collected £45,273.87 with the GIFT AID this is close to £50K, bringing the total to £80K.
This has come about because of your generosity and the hard work of volunteers in the ladies and gents to help raise this sum. I feel we raised these sums so quickly because we believed in the causes. I hope today to make you believe in another worthwhile cause but more on that in a short while.
I am now going to tell you what we have done so far with your donations. £14K has been remitted to the WF. £2K and £4K of Saadat Funds (Making £6K) has been remitted to three Moulanas in Pakistan for helping their communities. This leaves £34K. We will be donating 2 water-filtering plants through the charity ‘every human matters’ at a cost of approximately £6K each. The remainder of £22,000 will be sent to the WF to allocate for water filtration and aid where most needed.
With regards to the Niyaz fund, we feel there may be a small surplus of about £1K, which as pledged will also be used for the Pakistan Relief Fund.
What this Ramadhan in particular has highlighted is that when we as a community work together truly amazing results can be achieved and I pray to Allah that such high levels of attendance and generosity continue.
During the past month, you were addressed by three sub-committees. The work of these three committees are important to all of us.
I am sure you have all heard about the new service directory which is being put together by our upliftment committee. I strongly urge all of you not to be shy and enlist your services, however large or small. If we are to prosper, it is important for us to keep wealth and business within the walls of our community. To service providers, please give discounts and encourage trade between members. To everyone else, I urge you to keep a copy of this directory at hand when it comes out.
The Roadmap committee is our very own strategic planning unit. They are planning a document outlining our aims for the next 5 to 10 years. Be that facilities for the elderly, the sports club or schools. For these plans to be effective, they have to incorporate the opinions and wants of the General.
Thus, I urge each and every one of you to offer feedback and suggestions of where you see our community in the future. This is a golden opportunity for all of us to participate in shaping the future of our community.
The constitution committee are actively seeking feedback from the community. I urge you all to assist them and offer suggestions and advice. After all, the redrafting of this key document is one of the most exciting changes of our generation.
And now, as promised earlier, I will talk about the next worthwhile cause I feel we as a community need to rally around and support whole-heartedly.
It is none other than the MAP project. YES – I know what many of you are thinking, its that project which is 8 years old and still nowhere near started…
Let me today address some of the key issues that may be clouding your minds.
Some of you may be thinking, why do we need to spend so much money moving? Why can’t we just extend our existing complex?
In response to this, our present imambargha was built in 1981 and at that time the population of Birmingham Jamaat was 360. Today just our Khoja population is 2000plus and growing. Our present complex is 6,500 sq. ft. If we are to accommodate 2,000 people as well as our aging population that requires seating and take the same people to space ratio as 1981, we would require at least 30,000 sq. ft. which is 5x the current centre. This is not accounting for any growth in the future. To build such a centre with car parking facilities on our present site would be very difficult if not impossible. Building a multi-storey car park across the road, is something that the road transport planners would not be in favour of. The cost of extending here or building a purpose built new centre is the same and the latter would involve fewer complications. It also offers the comfort of having a centre whilst the new one is being developed. The cost of hiring a temporary centre for 2 years would be expensive and a great deal of hassle.
Our seniors 30 years ago took the leap of faith and built the centre that we enjoy using today. We now have to follow in their footsteps and provide a suitable centre to our children and their generation.
Many of you will be asking, why should we donate money when we haven’t even purchased a site?
I want to give you an analogy of buying a house. When you buy a house you need money for a deposit so that you can obtain a mortgage. The same is true when buying land. If we were to win a bid on a plot, we would be expected to show at least 30% of the value to be considered as creditworthy. To date we have raised £670,000 but given that the sites that we will be bidding for, we will need somewhere close to £1.3 million.
There are currently 3 sites under consideration. They are:
1) a site near Camp Hill Roundabout on Stratford Road behind the Yemeni Centre
2)Warwick Road in Tysley
3) A piece of land in Stirchley off Pershore Rd.
The site that we are most encouraged about is the Camp Hill roundabout as it is closest to our current centre and the members.
All of these pieces of land are in the region of 4 acres, which satisfies our future needs. These plots come in at the cost of about 700K – 1Milloin per acre. Which makes a total purchase cost of about 3-4 Million. These prices reflect a good deal because of the downturn in the real estate market. We need to act quickly to take advantage of these prices.
As we have seen this last month, when we as a community take a project to heart and believe in it, we can raise huge sums of money really quickly. I want Birmingham jamaat to BELIVE in the MAP project and the people who are working day and night to make it happen, even though it may not seem that way.
If we succeed in a negotiation, I may be back on the podium asking you to dig deep into your pockets to donate or lend the Jamaat money to seal the deal.
I encourage members to start filling their standing order forms however small, as this is a quick and easy way to raise large sums. Also, to those who are fortunate enough to make available large sums of money, please come forward and assist us.
To those who are scared by the millions of pounds that this project will cost, I want to refer you to the wise words of the Holy Qur’an. “When you have resolved, place your trust in Allah”.
Up to date, I can think of no projects in our Khoja community worldwide that have been left unfinished. Our community comes together from all corners to help finish worthwhile projects such as these.
I hope today that I have shed some new light onto the project and answered some of your concerns. Should you have ANY other questions or suggestions please approach any member of the MAP project.
I pray that Allah gives us all the strength and confidence to make the MAP project a reality.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Before I let you all tuck into the Biryani, may I request you all to say a sure fateah for the pioneers of our community who took the first steps in establishing our centre and all those who are no longer with us today.
Al Fateha
