Minutes (redacted) of The CoEJ Executive Council Meeting held on 3 July 2010 at Husaini Islamic Centre, Peterborough

President welcomed new Councillors and other attendees, starting with introductions and apologies.

President thanked Peterborough Jamaat for agreeing to host the meeting and asked Br. Razahusein Rahim, (President of Peterborough Jamaat) to go through the housekeeping rules. He kindly obliged and also extended his welcome to everyone to Peterborough.

Br Razahusein humbly proposed that agenda item 11 be moved to just before Zohr Namaaz break at 12.55 and this was duly agreed by the councillors present.

President requested to recite sure fateha for Marhoom Ramzanalibhai Juma Sumar (father of CoEJ VP Br Gulamhusein R J Sumar), Marhoom Murtazabhai Lakha, Marhuma Leilabai Jessa (mother-in-law of Dr Akber Mohammedali) and all marhumeens before proceeding.

Proposed by: Rasool Bhamani

Seconded by: Mahmood Rehemtulla

Matters Arising:

a.    Br. Mahmood Remtulla enquired if anyone has been appointed to take the post as an NGO co-ordinator. Secretary General confirmed that Br Murtaza Gulamhusein had been appointed and that email was circulated informing councillors.

b.    Br. Rasool Bhamani queried what is happening with the students in Damascus? Br. Razahusein informed that the couples are now in UK but have indicated that they have a full programme including the professional programs so are unable to take up any commitments with Jamaats for the time being.

c.    Shia TV Channels - Br. Razahusein, further to a meeting with AhlulBayt TV, requested CoEJ to support them and they would like to raise their profile by advertising their programs through CoEJ website and they want to seek our help to probably get a host in Africa so that their tabligh globally can be achieved. Br Razahusein briefed that WF IEB has also had discussions and is proceeding with lectures of Marhum Mullasaheb which will carry the banner “by CoEJ under patron of WF”.

A lengthy discussion took place encompassing issues such as centralised funding, monitoring our community contributions, political concerns, ability to influence, legal implications, transparency, fair approach with all Shia TV Channels, quality of content, concerns about endorsing views by association, our current contribution through human resources.

It was agreed that promotion by the channels should be allowed to continue at the discretion of member Jamaats but any funds collected should be channelled through CoEJ and WF, whilst also being mindful that our members may

Contribute by direct debit and a means to somehow monitor this should be considered. Funding secured from WF to be utilised for English content this year and we would only be responsible for our content. A banner on our content may be considered by ICA, possibly similar to or same as ‘by CoEJ under patron of WF. It was agreed that our strategy would be to shape content. Br. Razahusein will manage content under ICA and consider setting up a Steering Group to shape future CoEJ strategy in this area with media team, led by Br. Razahusein (ICA).

a.    President congratulated Dr. Liaket Dewji of Hyderi Jamaat, Shafiq Haji of Birmingham Jamaat and the incoming new committee of their Jamaats. He also welcomed the new councillors Dr. Safdarali Siwji Birmingham Jamaat (EC), Azad Poptani Hujjat Jamaat (EC), Dr. Riaz Kaba Hyderi Jamaat (EC).

b.    CoEJ participated with full delegation of 20 members in the WF Extraordinary Conference ON 1 May 2010. Following the resolution set the date of the Constitutional Conference which will Insha’Allah be held on the weekend of 4th and 5th December in the United Kingdom, venue to be confirmed.

c.    The opening ceremony of Mehfile Zainabe Centre, in North Paris to took place on 23 May 2010. President attended together with Br Munawer Rattansey (VP of WF), Br Gulamhusein R J Sumar (CoEJ VP), Br Murtaza Gulamhussein (CoEJ Executive Councillor and VP of KSIMC of London), Br Mohsin Kassam (Honorary Secretary of KSIMC of London) and Br Azad Poptani (CoEJ Executive Councillor of KSIMC).

d.    After the programme a meeting with both the North Paris and South Paris Jamaats Management Committees was arranged attended by President and Br Gulamhusein R J Sumar (CoEJ VP) met. The following areas were included in the discussion: Madressa Teachers Training, Leadership Madressa Training, example Headmaster, Co-ordinators etc, EHM Combined Hajj Request:  explained the legal implications, but an EHM Paris Branch could be looked into, Youths network/Cooperation, highly desirable, Children Exchange, small short groups to be looked into, Seniors strong wish for exchange programmes.

e.    A visit to Trollhattan and Marsta jamaats was arranged on 31 May 2010 where President was accompanied Br Gulamhusein R J Sumar (CoEJ VP) and Br Razahussein Rahim (ICA Chair and CoEJ Executive Councillor). The purpose of this visit was to carry out a needs assessment of our member Jamaats in Sweden, with a view to ensure that they were supported effectively. Meetings were held with the two member Jamaats, Marsta and Trollhattan over the long weekend (29 - 31 May 2010).

f.    A meeting was also held with representatives of Jonkoping Jamaat and Oslo Jamaat. Jonkoping Jamaat is a community of Khoja Shia ithnasheri members and has expressed their interest to join CoEJ. President has requested from them their constitution to look into this.

g.    President attended Al Zahra Day in Leicester on 6 June 2010 organized by Leicester senior citizens. He spoke about carrying out the needs assessment for our seniors in Europe. This work will start as soon as Br Ramzan Dhanji (SND Chair) is back from Seniors Trip in Dar-es-salaam.

h.    President attended the MCB 13th Annual General Meeting in London on Sunday, 20June 2010. The new elected office bearers are Br. Farooq Murad (Secretary General), Dr. Shuja Shafi (Deputy Secretary General) and Br. Harun Rashid Khan (Treasurer).They had two candidates from CoEJ who stood for the position to be on the CWC team Dr. Akbar Mohammedali and Br. Nausher Jaffer and Alhamdulillah both of them were elected. CoEJ now has 3 seats on MCB CWC committee, two elected and one nominated.

i.    President was invited to Al Mahdi Centre in Wessex on 26 June 2010 to celebrate the birth anniversary of our first Imam Hazrat Ali A.S. During the programme President was honoured to present on behalf of Wessex Jamaat, a token of appreciation to Judge Khurshid Drabu (CBE) as recognition for the enormous work that he has done for the Muslim ummah.

j.    President congratulated Sis. Marziyabai Sayani who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s honours list in her role as Executive Officer, Jobcentre Plus, Department for Work and Pensions. (Milton Keynes). He said we are proud of her.

k.    A follow-up meeting with the President and the committee of Ismaili National Council for the UK at the Ismaili Centre on 1 July 2010, Dr. Akbar Mohamedali, Br. Azad Poptani, and Br. Riyaz Ladha (Hyderi) were present at the meeting. During the discussions, they covered a lot of ground on collaborative working and sharing of best practices.  A range of areas for potential collaboration were identified.

l.    Fund raising requests from both Shia and non Shia organizations are received. We have a general process in place for all organizations, but are increasingly receiving requests and seek direction from the EC to ensure that our process is fair and objective. It was agreed that a Policy paper with a vetting checklist is drafted and the charities we promote should be in consensus with CoEJ objectives.

Br. Razahusein enlightened everyone about the Al Qaim project and the future plans of Peterborough Jamaat. He requested the Al Qaim project lead Br Salim Ibrahim to show everyone around to see the land and temporary extension of the ladies hall. He elaborated the progress of Al Qaim project under the President ship of Br. Razahusein. He gave an overview that included, that the project is loan free, has no bank borrowing, substantial rental income from temporary construction warehouse (which was used as an imambargha last year during Muharram), a 4 bed property, information about the facilities to be considered and building plans. He emphasised the need for the project as the Centre has 800 Shia members only within 30 miles radius. Estimated cost of the project is £3million. Questions on the projected were answered and President took the opportunity to thank Br. Razahusein and the entire team of Al Qaim project for enlightening us on the progress of this project so far and assured them CoEJ support.

a.    Gaza Flotilla Condemnation letter sent by CoEJ jointly with WF to Hon William Hague Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to record our profound concerns for the safety of aid workers from various countries including GB.

b.    It has been noted that CoEJ activities need support from member Jamaats to be effectively promoted and sought a view on how to improve effective communication to our members. An example being the Education Board had noted that announcements/poster sent by email from CoEJ was not being announced with the Jamaat programmes and it seemed that there was not much “push” from the Jamaats in publicising CoEJ events. No announcements were made regarding the events in Birmingham Jamaat on 13th Rajab.

c.    The Secretariat circulates a regular activities update to make Councillors aware of the activities planned in the period and this was appreciated by Councillors. Regular Youth desk update is an example of good practice and all Boards should at least quarterly report on progress to their plans and planned activities and this would add value. EC links urged to communicate this to the Boards.

d.    EC links and team heads were requested to liaise with their boards to ensure that they are kept informed. He expressed his concerns with our conference approaching we may not be able to affect all our projects and may have difficulty securing funding in the future if we do not deliver on the projects that we budgeted.

Br. Salim Govani expressed difficulties of non UK Jamaats with regards to trips and summer camps as they had to travel to UK first to participate at an extra cost and requested if consideration would be given to this. It was agreed that Boards be made aware of this issue by EC links present.

e.    Constitutional Review Consultation Team Appointments. A background was given that each regional body had been invited to submit two names and CoEJ member Jamaats were asked to submit the names of individuals that you consider suitable to represent CoEJ on the constitutional review consultation team. Three nominations had initially been received and CoEJ Secretariat wrote to WF seeking clarification on the process. It was pointed out that the Constitutional Review Team was perceived not be proactive and it would seem only got its momentum together after our communication to them and has set 11 July 2010 as the date for the first teleconference to discuss the process of consultation.

The nominations received initially were from KSISLJ (Hyderi Jamaat) and KSIMC of London (Hujjat Jamaat) for Shabbirbhai Mamdani, Sabirabai Lakha and Dr. Sibtainbhai Panjwani and to ensure that the process was fair and transparent for all member Jamaats they were all were given the opportunity. The CoEJ Executive Council reviewed the nominations received to reach a decision on the two names to represent CoEJ. Three options were considered, 2 members from EC or one EC member and one nominated lay member or 2 nominated lay members.

After due deliberation it was resolved that the Executive Council should be represented on this Team, in the main for accountability purposes and as other federations had only appointed from their Executive Council. In light of this, Dr Akber Mohamedali was appointed as the lead on this Team, being a Councillor and to ensure that we reached out to our membership Dr Sibtain Panjwani was appointed from the three nominations received.

It was also agreed that communication would be promptly sent to all the Jamaats to enable members to send suggestions to be considered in the WF Constitution Review (dedicated email address, crcteam@coej.org).

a.    Hon Treasurer Circulated the draft EHM accounts gave the names of representatives of EHM.

EHM does not need any assistance but should EHM incur any costs under any circumstances, CoEJ needs to be made aware of any difficulties.

b.    It would seem from the accounts that EHM operated at a loss. In light of that it was suggested that EHM should be running as a company and should consider other religious trips to generate additional revenue. EHM is looking into another option of offering travel insurance. Contingency arrangements in the event to unforeseen circumstances should be considered, particularly in light of the recent volcanic event

c.    Subscriptions outstanding and being followed up by Treasury included South Paris, Trohalttan, Switzerland and Gloucester.

d.    Any Gift Aid unrestricted monies received would be placed in a reserve funds, with a view to making CoEJ self sufficient in the future.

e.    Revision course was over budget as income was insufficient £13K (projected £27K) and will be closely scrutinised for next year. Actual deficit in the region of £4000. It was suggested that all events should be closely monitored to ensure value for money and compliance with budgets. Treasurer informed that the Secretariat has a lot of resources in house that should be utilised by the projects and example being the cost incurred with printing costs when these could have been carried out in house. EC links to emphasise this and Team heads should consult secretariat first and only if they are unable to facilitate the request then after pre authorisation from Treasury should they proceed with a third party. A query was raised by Br Mahmood Rehemtulla past Education EC Link if it was appropriate to fund the revision course from WF huqooq funds. Treasury agreed to look into this.

f.    It was pointed out that the names of trustees on the report did not include all the trustees and clarification was sought that the information submitted to the charities commission website was not the same as that would not be correct. It was clarified that the information submitted to the charities commission was correct and not the same as that on the report and the trustees information on the treasurers report would be duly corrected.

g.    Treasurer thanked Br. Qasim Alidina and Br. Mohamedkazim Bhaloo

The Resolution as previously circulated received on 12 May 2010 from KSIMC of London:

“It is hereby resolved that this General Body empowers the EC to procure a constitutional conference of CoEJ by 30/09/2010 where amendments to its constitution is sought to reflect proportional representation of KSIMC of London at the CoEJ (Executive Council) as well as number of its delegates at the World Federation conference”.

Sheikh Mustafa Jaffer gave an overview of their proposals, though these were not circulated at this stage, and some background on why they sought proportional representation. The Executive Council acknowledged their concerns in principle and after due deliberation it was agreed:

A Joint Constitutional and Annual Conference to be held on 25 September 2010 in respect of the timeframe in the submitted Resolution.

To work closely with KSIMC of London on proposals for Constitutional amendments, the EC appointed five individuals to form a working group with KSIMC of London.

It was agreed that KSIMC of London would initiate and coordinate the process of engaging with these individuals.

These individuals would engage and communicate effectively with KSIMC of London, give input, help shape the proposals.

The KSIMC of London would then ensure that the constitutional amendments are submitted to the CoEJ Secretariat in a timely manner as per Clause 16.2 of the CoEJ Constitution. The appointed individuals were Sis Waheeda Rahim, Dr Akber Mohamedali, Br Rasool Bhamani, Br Shabbir Merali, and Br Gibriel Jeraj. CoEJ Secretariat to send an email with contact details to enable KSIMC of London to initiate the discussion.

Seyed Naqvi gave an overview and update of the HAT reformation and plans to hold a meeting soon Insha’Allah. At the last meeting in Wessex KSIMC of London were not represented and had sent us an email a day prior expressing their objections to HAT TOR point 30 (Member Jamaats agree to exclusively recommend its membership to follow the advise given by HAT) and 31 (No member Jamaats will operate their own Hilal teams and publish parallel statements), which was duly passed by the Executive Council, subject to review if required.

In light of this and as KSIMC of London were not present then Seyed Naqvi indulged Sheikh Mustafa Jaffer to seek his view on this now.

Sheikh Mustafa stated they no longer had any objections except that TAIA would not be disbanded but would remain purely an educational entity and will not issue any statement

It was agreed that HAT should be working with other organisations in UK, such as Council of Ulema and this should be initiated by HAT.

Not presented as apologies received from both links

Br. Amir Walji presented an informative and comprehensive Education report.  He shared his concerns on the secular conference which was cancelled unfortunately due to a poor response. He praised Sis Nilam and Br Aqil Datoo for their hard work.

Education Team plans to update our database of teachers in our community. The purpose of Education, is it’s the role of informing, guiding and giving active resources of education to our community.

He discussed the revision course and the success of the course, he also mentioned that the draft report is being edited and will be circulated to the office bearers soon.

Evaluation certainly shows that the students gained a lot from the course and the teachers participated really well. The reason of low participation was due to dates coinciding with holidays in the main and promotion (lack of push) in our Jamaats.

Course was led by Br Aqil Datoo and he was the main drive of the course.

He confirmed that Summer Camp in North Wales is an excellent venue and Halal food will be served. UCAS workshop will take place in September and will be led by Aqil Datoo. The boy’s camp is being led by Hasnain Panjwani and Sajjad Hassam.  All Camps are truly Islamic and Islamic content involved.

In terms of future the Education Committee needs to, look into information, guidance and support. The landscape of the Education is changing, with primary schools changing to academy status but the biggest change it would seem under the new government would be that only brighter students go to further education as opposed to the previous policy of at least 50% of the students to go to university.

The President and Executive Councillors thanked Br Amir Walji and the Education Committee, for their commendable efforts and CoEJ will Insha’Allah support them through out.

The girls had opportunity to meet other girls from member Jamaats in an Islamic environment during the Buloogh Camp and provided Islamic concepts.

It was suggested that Executive Councillors should actively help promote activities like the camps in their respective Jamaats to encourage participation and networking in the process amongst our youths.

An overview given on the Women’s Needs Assessment Initiative, a joint WF and CoEJ project would enable to better meet the needs of the women in the community. A workshop was held in Peterborough and this was effective. Invitations to hold further workshops have been sent to other Jamaats and a favourable response is awaited.

It was suggested having a separate committee for Marriage, as Khawateen felt it may be difficult for them to take it on alone. It was agreed by the President to look into this.

a.    Guidance sought by Peterborough Jamaat on pre-marriage screening for Thalasemia & HIV testing for couples. It was suggested careful consideration should be given to the legal implications, particularly human rights legislation and also in terms of Shar’iah, if this is implemented mandatorily. Dr Rizwan Alidina (HIB Chair) in doing some work in this area and may be in a position to advice at the next meeting.

b.    It was agreed secretariat could requisition updated population figures from member Jamaats if agreeable as sought by KSIMC of London to help with their proposal.

c.    It was suggested President’s Report and Secretary Report should be circulated with meeting pack to save time and this was duly agreed.

d.    Concerns were raised about SND trip to Dar-es-Salaam. It was alleged that individuals were told that lodging and food in Dar-es-Salaam on the trip would be free but later were told there would be a charge for this. Some seniors were upset and decided instead to cancel their flights bookings, incurring a cancellation fee of £150. CoEJ President become acutely aware of the concerns after Br Ramzan Dhanji’s speech in Leicester and promptly spoke to President of Dar-es-Salaam Jamaat seeking a subsidy for our seniors.

An email was subsequently sent confirming the discussion for a subsidy for the Jamaat lodging and Dar-es-Salaam Jamaat kindly obliged by only charging at cost for the lodging in their guesthouse but were not able to waive the costs fully.

CoEJ Office bearers had given the concerns consideration but as Dr Husein Jiwa confirmed, it was deemed inappropriate to subsidise what was in essence a holiday from huqooq funds.

Whilst it was acknowledged that there may have been errors in the organisation of the trip as no promotional material was arranged through CoEJ, if any posters were produced if at all we have not been provided these to confirm any allegations.

Regret was expressed that our seniors have been disappointed with the arrangements and lessons have to be learnt.

Eight individuals may have cancelled after becoming aware of the lodging and food costs in Dar-es-Salaam. Both Br Ramzan Dhanji and CoEJ President had sought some donations to assist in keeping the costs down.

Action 4: Br Murtaza Bharwani Seniors EC link to look into this issue and it was felt that Br Ramzan Dhanji should be given an opportunity to respond to the concerns raised at the next meeting

President thanked Br. Razahusein Rahim, his Executive committee and the hard working volunteers for the kind hospitality.