Suggestions for a way forward By Asma Mobin-Uddin June 1, 2010

Salaam,
I received the recent communication from the newly appointed “board” at AIW/NICC and I appreciate that the people involved are sincerely trying their best to help the organization. However, you must understand that the MODEL of leadership and how one attains such a position must be immediately legitimized and stabilized for the future of AIW/NICC. For the community to continue to accept this paternalistic- appointed-without-community-say model of instituting leadership because some person thinks they know best for everyone is not valid or acceptable.

To be invested in an organization and motivated and inspired to take that organization to its fullest heights, people need to really be a part of the decision-making and have a real sense of ownership and empowerment. They need to feel that the leadership represents them and is fair, and they need paths by which to make changes when they see wrongs being done. Responsible leadership is a group of people legitimized and entrusted by the community who bring their shared experience and wisdom to the table and forge a common path based on the greater good in their collective opinion.

My comments are not a personal reflection on the people appointed. (Masha’allah, of the people I know on the list, I would have likely voted for each of you and I appreciate the talents and sincerity you bring). But a foundation built on inappropriate materials does not provide good support for the structure. And I am talking about the MODEL of instituting leadership. For people to accept the path by which the current “board” was appointed is to leave the way open for our children to be having this same issue with board members appointed because of someone’s whim. The end does not justify the means. If the current board was elected, I would be so happy to have them (except for the sister issue which will be mentioned below). But to have the same people appointed in the current manner is simply not appropriate and belies what you say you are doing to move the organization forward.

I would like to give my personal suggestions and feedback in the areas of board status, elections, term limits, sister-participation, bylaws, current board member status and grievance committee development below.

Interim board status
- The current board should make clear to the community that its mandate is to be a transitional or interim board that will function to stabilize the organization and address some of the pressing issues in the next 6-8 months. At the end of this time period, elections must be held for a majority of the board positions. It might be necessary to retain part of the board by the majority vote of the current leadership if they are in a vital capacity that might not be met by a community vote – like a person with the financial background to be treasurer, or a person with legal background, etc. But the balance of appointed and elected members must be one that reflects community empowerment and not token positions.

Elections
– Having a step process for elections will be useful in coming up with a streamlined list of candidates that are to be voted on. It will not work well to dilute the vote to have people voting on a large number of people so the ones who get the most votes are only getting 10%, etc. You may need an initial vote to select the short list or something and then have people re-vote on the short list. There are many models for having such elections and I am sure you can find a good one. The point to remember is that this will be a very sensitive and scrutinized step, so you want to make sure the model you choose will work well for our particular situation and that people cannot undermine the process.

On another note, when the board composition is finalized, it may be useful to have the final board elect its own officers including the chair. That will give the head more legitimacy in the eyes of the board and community than an appointed head.

Membership
– In order to have valid elections, you will need a way to determine who can vote in NICC elections. You want to find a way to allow the real community of NICC to have a voice without making it easy for small groups or people to rally a lot of their friends who are not usually part of the NICC community to come and “vote” and perhaps install a person that is just bent on their own interests and who has not demonstrated commitment to working for the benefit of the community. So how do you prevent this from happening? Other communities have used a dues-paying status (if you pay your dues on time, you get a vote) and this might be needed. The dues should be large enough to prevent the scenario I mentioned (a person bringing one hundred people to each pay $10 and vote) but also be low enough to include the members of our community who are less well-off. You can consider if a donation of time counts, but it should be remembered that there were a lot of political reasons for why people may or may not have volunteered for NICC in the past. Personally, I think a dues paying criteria would be a reasonable one for membership and voting.

Term limits.
– There need to be term limits for every board member and a healthy turn-over to bring new energy and ideas in. I suggest you consider three years as one term with an option to be re-elected once as a good way to balance maintaining the wisdom and experience of the board and bringing in and training new people. Staggering the turn-over also helps maintain continuity.

Sisters
-When I mentioned that it was not acceptable to have no sisters on the newly appointed board, I heard back from three different people, including the email sent out that represents the whole new group, saying that the plan was to appoint two sisters. That is a start, but the manner in which this is being accomplished is completely unacceptable again. If you are serious about including sisters in your decision-making process and board, how dare you announce the leadership so far to the community, have meetings, send out community announcements about what you have accomplished so far, and yet not have the courtesy to include even one sister in this process, much less two? Are you telling me that out of 80,000 Muslims in central Ohio, assuming half are sisters and assume even maybe one tenth of these are adults, that out of these 4,000 candidates, you could not find two to include in your first meeting? During the meeting, decisions have been made, leadership posts have already been appointed, and people have started to work together, gotten to meet and know each other, etc. It is putting someone behind in all of this when they are not included from the beginning. So do not tell us that sisters are not an after thought or are part of the process. Show us. You absolutely should not have had the announcement or the first board meeting without sister representation. This needs to be rectified immediately, and definitely before the next meeting or group interaction.

Bylaws
– It should be obvious, but I will say it anyway. Whoever is working on bylaws should do their research and bring samples of existing bylaws from Muslim and nonMuslim organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit and nonprofit organizations to look at existing structures. No need to reinvent the wheel. You can consider modifying an existing bylaw structure for your purposes. But do not limit your research to masjids in America. We need to have a vision for the organization beyond what models American masjids have shown to date. The legal advice on this will be invaluable. Checks and balances to power are vital. No board members should be able to hijack the entire board’s progress by one or two votes on something. You might even consider circulating your bylaws drafts to other community members for feedback before adopting. Let’s make NICC a model for other communities in America and set the tone so other organizations can learn from us. This will take a lot of work to avoid shortcuts initially, but will be well worth the effort if done appropriately.

Current previous board member status.
– The status of the 2 or 3 previous board members (Imam Hany, Br. Khaled, and Br. Amjad) must be dealt with immediately. This will give legitimacy to the current leadership and help the community come together and heal if dealt with in a way the community accepts. I initially felt that the initial 3 board members should have the option like everyone else to be nominated for an elected position in the elections that should be held after the interim period. Their contributions, experience, and effort are known and valued by the community. However, watching recent events, I have come to the sad conclusion that these brothers will not be able to work together or be able to overcome the past issues which have divided the community. So now my opinion is that they should be relegated to advisory status (no vote, consultation only) and NOT have the option to be elected to a voting position on the board. I am sad to have come to this conclusion, but I see no other way to move forward.

Grievance committee
-With all the issues going on, it would be useful to have an official process and policy on how grievances in the community will be addressed. If people feel there is a fair process for their concerns to be heard, they will be patient and use the process as long as they trust it and feel it is fair. If they feel there is no process to having their voices heard and no hope for change, they will riot. Give people a fair way to approach the masjid with concerns and you will help stabilize the community’s reactions to your work.

These are my suggestions as a community member who loves NICC and wants my kids to attend the masjid with love and hope - for their deen and their relationship with Allah (swt), not cynicism and frustration at what happens there. What you do will affect which way the balance tips. May Allah (swt) purify our hearts and intentions and take us to the right path forward, insha’allah.

Salaam,
Asma Mobin-Uddin