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Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board - MINAB

The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) was formally launched on 27 June 2006. The MINAB is an advisory and facilitatory body. It will facilitate self-regulation through getting consensus from members to develop quality standards, to which members will aspire towards. Its advisory role will be to provide guidance and build capacity of members to move towards achievement of the standards. It is an independent body which aims to work with and represent all Muslim traditions and schools of thought.

The first stage of creating the MINAB was a national consultation, which sought views on issues such as the accreditation of Imams, better governance of Mosques and interfaith activity. The information gained was used to develop and disseminate a good practice guide, setting out the principles and procedures that Mosques and Imams should follow to effectively lead their communities. However, there was concern that the consultation process had not been extensive enough and that the information obtained was not complete enough to assist.

Since its launch, the MINAB’s work has been undertaken through an interim steering group, comprising of representatives from the Al-Khoei Foundation, British Muslim Forum, Muslim Association of Britain and Muslim Council of Britain. The four organisations have achieved consensus on a Constitution for the MINAB and developed a draft framework of core minimum standards for those who become its members. Membership of the MINAB is open to all mosques and Muslim educational and training establishments.

Articles

Read, Research and Enhance

 “O my Rabb! Increase me in knowledge.” (20:114)

As part of our daily struggle in increasing our knowledge about Islam, it has been suggested that a section on our website be devoted to religious articles to coincide with Majalis being held at our centre. For example, prior to 13th Rajab, where we mark the birth eve of Ameerul Mu’mineen, Imam Ali (AS), we should have an article relating to Imam Ali’s life whereby our community is able to do some background reading before attending Majalis.

The aims are multi-fold. Firstly, it will prepare those attending Majalis to know a little about the personality or event they are celebrating or commemorating. Secondly, it will encourage the reader to research further. Many a time, we come to Majalis, we listen for 30-45 minutes to an eloquent lecture but we fail to retain much of the material once we have reached back to our homes. Our quest for knowledge should continue once we are back in the comfort of our own homes.

The Holy Prophet (SAW) has said: "The good of this world and the world to come is with knowledge." (Bihar-ul-Anwar, vol.1, p. 204 as quoted in “A Bundle of Flowers” compiled by Ayatullah Sayyid Kamal Faghih Imani and translated by Sayyid Abbas Sadr-'ameli)

In today’s world, we pay a lot more attention to listening rather than reading. We have to a certain extent neglected the need to read and research despite the wealth of resources we have at our disposal. Today, one can type in a word on Google and be presented with hundreds of links to that topic.

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read.

It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better.

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently.

So let us read, research and enhance our knowledge of Islam. Please support this project by giving us your feedback and if you would like to contribute to these articles, please get in touch via hujjat@hujjat.org or contact the project leader, Brother Akil Kanani.