Ref: PR/AF/016/20
Date: December 02, 2020
A joint meeting over lunch was held on Saturday 14th November 2020 between the Africa Federation (AFED) Office Bearers and the newly appointed Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania (BMMT) Team at the AFED Office at Zahra Towers, Dar es Salaam.
The meeting was attended physically by Alhaj Hussein Karim (BMMT Chairman), Alhaj Abdulwahid Zakaria (BMMT Vice Chairman), Br. Kumail Haji (BMMT Hon. Treasurer), Br. Mohamedraza Bharwani (BMMT Hon. Secretary), Sis Nyambezi Bakari (BMMT Member), Sis Neelam Manji (BMMT Member), Br Hafidh Mansour (BMMT, COO), Sheikh Musabah (BMMT Head of Tabligh), Sis Siddika Karim (Head of Bilal Comprehensive Schools – BCS in Temeke), Alhaj Aunali Khalfan (AFED Vice Chairman), Alhaj Zainul Chandoo (AFED Hon. Treasurer), Br Hasnain Sherally (AFED, COO) it was also attended virtually by Alhaj Shabir Najafi (AFED Chairman) and Alhaj Zuhair Jaffer (AFED Hon Secretary).
The AFED Office Bearers called the meeting for interaction and to discuss the vision and strategies of the Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania’s new team and also to share AFED Office Bearer’s Vision for the term 2019-2022 in relations to the External Tabligh in Tanzania through its institution – The Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania.
During the meeting AFED Hon Secretary Alhaj Zuhair Jaffer presented AFED’s Vision and explaining the key objectives of External Tabligh which the Office Bearers of AFED were very keen to see progressing, they include the following:
- Strategize to move towards Bilal Muslim Mission’s Core Objectives, with a two-pronged approach – Tabligh and Sustainable Growth.
- Bring innovative to ensure we keep pace with the present times and always make sure that “our today is better than our yesterday”.
- Create collective synergies between boards by having collaboration and new ideas to ensure that there is structured direction in the events and activities of all boards.
- Have a dynamic structure with clear succession planning and sustainability to ensure continuous growth.
- Ensure all the zones in the various regions are catered for with special attention given to derelict centers and how to best utilize them as a resource
- To increase the communication between centers and improve the understanding of the religion and the practice of the same within the indigenous population.
The Chairman of Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania, Alhaj Hussein Karim presented an overview of the current activities and also a way forward for the Committee whereby they can achieve the core objectives of Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania which is to promote the Tabligh activities of our Shia Madhab to the indigenous population of the country in a structured way, this can be done through the education, economic upliftment and other Bilal activities.
AFED Chairman Shabir bhai Najafi had the following remarks to the team, ” Alhamdulillah we have a great diverse and qualified team at the helm of Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania after a long span, this is a beginning to set in place a new way forward for the Mission and achieve the goals of external Tabligh, with the same spirit and synergies. Bilal Muslim Mission have made great strides in its development since its formation by Seyed Saeed Akhter Rizvi in 1968, in both areas; Tabligh and upliftment of the indigenous population of the country and we will continue to expand and increase our reach with this new board”
AFED Vice Chairman Aunali bhai Khalfan also made a presentation outlining the way forward and covering the need for an improved and innovative way of operating adapted to today’s day and age, he called for increased teamwork and unity among the members of the team and to keep the objective of the Mission at the forefront of every activity.
He underlined the importance of education, both secular and religious education for the indigenous Shias, especially the upcoming generation whereby they can be the torch-bearers of Bilal in the future. He stressed on the Bagamoyo Hawza project which is in the plan and the secondary school at BCS in Temeke, these two are inter-linked as the Hawza at Temeke facing several impediments including lack of equate space etc. needs to be relocated and pave way for the BCS to expand with his program of the secondary school.
Some of the key points stressed by the Vice Chairman of AFED, amongst these were:
- Change – we cannot operate in the same way like we did about 30 to 40 years ago, we have to be more pro-active in our approach in Tabligh and other Bilal activities considering the challenges we face currently which will intensify in the future.
- Improve in our Public Relations and Inter-Faith Relationships with all communities and faiths.
- Direct more focus towards education, develop the Bagamoyo Hawza and introduction of a Secondary School at Bilal Comprehensive School in Temeke.
The Hon. Treasurer, Zainul Bhai Chandoo underscored the importance of accountability and financial management by introducing procedures and processes to have a better picture of the overall finance of Bilal. He explained on the reporting requirements which is becoming more and more prevalent these days due to the donor’s strict compliance measures.
The two young and dynamic Board Members recently appointed, the Hon. Treasurer of BMMT, Br. Kumail Haji and the Hon. Secretary of BMMT made their presentations to outline the various initiatives they are planning to bring about and the changes at Bilal Head Office in order to align the finance and administration segments in meeting the standards required especially on-time management reporting to BMMT Board and AFED Secretariat, and performance monitoring.
There were various contributions from the members who presented their views and suggestions for improvements and towards the end, the floor was given for questions which were responded to by AFED Office Bearers and BMMT Chairman, Hussein Bhai Karim.
The Office Bearers appreciated the Team’s efforts thus far and assured them of the full support and cooperation of the Africa Federation Secretariat in achieving their vision.
SECRETARIAT