Hassan Ayoub Wrote on May 9, 2010:
Asalaam U Alaikum Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I wanted to inform you of the events that took place at last night's fundraiser. Alhamdulilah by the grace of Allah over $200,000 was raised. However more than half of this money was given with the condition that the disputing AIW BOD members resolve this dispute to the satisfaction of the community. Otherwise these funds will be held in trust until we have a suitable solution.
In addition another $150,000 was pledged to be given within 1 year if a suitable solution is found. This would have brought the fundraising totals to well over $350,000, making it the most successful fundraiser since the opening of NICC and would pay off nearly 40% of the debt owed by AIW.
Also Br. Amgad Saleh flew in from Chicago to attend this fundraiser and met many of the community members and donors for the first time. After the fundraising activities were over we prayed salatul Maghrib and were given very sincere advice and words of wisdom from our visiting Imam, Sheik Abdul Rauuf.
Many community members decided to use this spirit of good will and community to speak to Br. Amgad Saleh. About 30 or so brothers tried their best to get Br. Amgad to agree on a process to settle this mess. Many more asked him to please resign and appoint someone from the over 60,000 Muslims in Columbus to take his place as an AIW member.
Sheik Abdul Raoof suggested that some Imams or honest brothers be brought in to mediate/arbitrate the situation in order to address all of the claims and unresolved issues. Khalid Farag agreed to this principle however Br. Amgad was reluctant and would not commit. He continue to say that all issues would be resolved legally but when pressed for a method or process on how they would be resolved no answer was given. At the end Br. Amgad said it was too late for arbitration. I am saddened by the reluctance and ambiguity that was displayed. (IF I MISCHARACTERIZED THIS MEETING ANY OF THE BROTHERS THAT WERE PRESENT PLEASE CORRECT ME)
From my earlier understanding I believed that the brothers were upset about Ashraf, Mufakhirul Islam and my claims to BOD membership. In order to give reconciliation attempts a chance we unconditionally resigned since this was stated as one of the reasons for the failures thus far. Thereafter, Br. Khalid requested several meetings with the other 2 founders and these requests have either been ignored or rejected.
The attempts at some type of resolution last night and the pleadings of the sheik were also rejected. Even the attempts to agree on a simple process to resolve the underlying issues without committing to any final results was rejected.
This is indeed a sad day for this community. It looks like our resignation even though requested as a good gesture did not solve anything at all. We are indeed back to square 1. The emails sent at the beginning of May with sincere questions and requests for clarification from Brs. Fuad Ashami, Farooq Wirk and Abdul have also been ignored.
From all this I can only draw one conclusion. It seems that very soon there will be an attempt to oust Br. Khalid Farag and consolidate power. I hope I am wrong. May Allah protect this community from this FITNAH!
August 1998 Sunrise Academy ’98-‘99
8 years ago
Fuad Alshami wrote on May 9, 2010:
ReplyDeleteAsalaam Wa Alaikum Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
We spent over an hour with Brother Amjad Saleh last night and he won’t give us any clear answer. He kept going to the history of this mosque and how much hard he worked then to build this mosque. I was shocked to learn that he left Columbus and moved to Chicago in 1999….11 years ago!
I asked him directly….why are you still on the AIW board of director since you left this town long time ago. His answer was his kids were born in Columbus and he lived in this town between 1990-1999 long before most of us moved to this town, and he asked me when did I move to Columbus, I told him over six years ago and I never saw you once before in the mosque or any other community functions.
Then he says when I find someone qualifies in central Ohio he will pass his Amana to him and resign, but first he has to finish all the legal issues. I felt very insulted by his statement. I asked him what is his qualification and he won’t answer.
Amazing right brothers and sisters, we have over 60,000 Muslims in central Ohio and brother Amjad did not find any qualify person to pass his Amana to him!.
As you mentioned Brother Hassan in your email below, it is a crystal clear to us that they have a have a plan in place, Find a way legally or through some other methods to fire Brother Khalid Farag and appoint a new NICC board and keep the AIW board of directors intact
Salaam,
Fuad Alshami
Amgad Saleh wrote on May 10, 2010:
Dear Brother Fuad:
We're trying to calm things down after few months of tough time for the community so the community can move forward.
Unfortunately, mis-quotation only creates more misunderstanding. I was very clear about my long time committment, involvement, and role in the AIW board before and after the Center was opened.
When someone, I assume it was you, asked me explicitly "have I said that I cannot find someone qualify in Central Ohio to be in the Board?", where I assume somebody has communiated that to you, the answer came right away from one of the sincere brothers around us, "No he did not say that" and I confirmed talking to you directly same things.
Sorry, I don't recall you asking me about my qualifications. There are lots of brothers and sisters on this email who know me very well for decades now and have mutual respect.
May ALLAH Bless you.
Regards,
Amgad
Brothers Amgad, Hani and Khalid, like all self-appointed dictators, are either power hungry or somehow believe they have a monopoly on wisdom, or both. They no longer have any credibility in the community at large. The only way forward in my view is for all three to resign and cede control to an interim board that will move to revise the bylaws and put the organization on a sound footing for the long haul.
ReplyDeletefrom my experience and insight from Islamic institutions and governing, the ones who are doing good are the ones who are most hated.
ReplyDeleteTo the above comment: correction, the ones who keep following their self interest and could care less how their community suffers ARE THE ONES MOST HATED!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the first comment and I am highly suspicious of why these three men REFUSE to step down if it's a "nonpaid volunteer position they somehow see as their civic duty"!!!
ReplyDeleteI do not know these three men personally but have seen brs khaled and hani around, and in my personal experience and humble opinion the only way to solve this mess is to investigate all three!! WHAT do they gave to gain from the MASJID??? Noone puts up with all this mess and public humiliation and courts if there isn't a personal gain to follow. And PLEASE do not use the excuse that they are "good people working to please Allah and willing to resign only if they can find someone worthy of the amana (trust) to pass on!! That is the biggest insult to our community! There are learned and trustworthy and cultured and more than qualified brothers and sisters in our community that could do a heck of alot better job than this Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld trio!
So here are my suggestions and I highly suggest every single one of you considers them because like I said, I speak from an objective point as I do not know these men personally.
1. Community members need to hire an investigator to investigate the three men To see if the have any personal connections to the masjid or if they are benefitting from it financially (other than hani's position as paid chairman).
2.Br Tarazi mentioned in his intoduction that there was a fourth member (brother ali rubaian) . In my opinion he is still a board member if amjad saleh is still considered a board member. Finding brother Ali and helping update him on the situation his vote can help prevent any conspiracy action between brs amjad and hani.
3. And I highly reccomend that the community unite by (and hear me out on this) stopping funds and warning to sue the AIW board for pain and suffering if they do not resign. I will be the first to testify.
3. Then
Typo in the above message: "What do they HAVE to gain", not "what do they GAVE to gain". And please strike the second #3. thank you.
ReplyDeleteAssalamu Alaykum,
ReplyDeleteI pray to Allah that he gives you all patience and wisdom, and I pray that he guides the brother who has started this forum to SHUT IT DOWN!
My dear brothers and sisters, from an outsider's perspective, the issues you are concerned about and debating are important. However, from reading most of the comments from most of the posts, it seems that more harm than good is coming from this forum. Insults, heresay, and unfounded accusations are un-Islamic.
I am visiting your community this weekend and will speak to your youth at the conference. What shall I tell them of how to obey Allah and restraint their tongues and hands when anger and frustration take over them, particularly when so many of the adults around them at the masjid are willing to set aside these values in order to make their points heard or take cheap shots via "anonymous" monikers?
Shaytan is happy now and he is laughing, and surely Allah is displeased with such rancor taking place over His house.
So please, everyone, take a step back from the emails and web comments, and the long discussions after isha. Take deep breaths and bite your tongues when you feel that anger, rather than wisdom, will dictate your utterances. Lastly, do not lose hope in Allah's mercy and power. If husbands and wives can be reconciled, then surely brothers and sisters can too.
With love and respect,
Raeed Tayeh
North Canton, OH
Assalamu Alykum,
ReplyDeleteAccording to several trustworthy eyewitnesses Br. Amgad Saleh did say : " when I find someone qualified in central Ohio I will pass this Amana to him and resign"
With all due respect Brother Tayyeh, this blog is one of the best things that ever happened because it keeps us informed!! You should not blame and try to fix a community that's been wronged, you should blamed and accuse a board that's done an injustice to the community. Islam was not built on ignorance my brother, it was built to erase ignorance and there's no way we are going to be informed and find solutions if we are not able to argue and debate and discuss in a healthy manner. Instead of telling us what not to do, can you please try to help us with what we CAN do when our so called leaders fail us? We can't just sit and watch as the destroy our masjid.
ReplyDeleteWassalamalaikum,
Um Mohammad