Nov. 1994 MSA General Assembly

Fauzi Labidi reports:

The MSA meeting started with an introduction by MSA president brother Khalid Farag in which he highlighted the following:

He thanked the brothers and sisters who contributed to the MSA activities and specially those who are working on the newsletter "IQRA!" and whose efforts, with the help of Allah (SWT), led to newcomers to Islam. He tackled the problem of raising funds for the Voice Mail system. He stated funds for the Voice Mail system. He stated the cost to be in the range of $5000. All funds will be raised by private donations. He stated that the MSA had a press release when Louis Farrakhan visited Columbus. Some brothers distributed flyers to the people attending Farrakhan's speech in the Convention Center. He touched on the problem of overcrowding of Jumaah prayer. He added that the MSA is in the process of looking for a better alternative.
He said that the Omar Ibn ElKhattab school is overcrowded and lacks support. The MSA was expecting an enrollment of 80 students while the current number is 138. The MSA is in the process of renovating the school house to accommodate the unexpected increase. He complained of the lack of participation by some brothers in the MSA activities and• how it led to putting sq many tasks on the back burner. He lamented about problems with the Fire Marshal and the Ohio Fire Code violations that are taking place and he urged the brothers and sisters to keep low profile to minimize the problems.

Once brother KhaIid was done with his introduction, the brothers embarked on the progress reports of the different MSA committees. The brothers in charge and the attendees covered the following points:

• The mailing list database is done and it has 320 members.

• One brother mentioned that the information committee should put more effort in advertising the Islamic events such as Ramadan and Eid.

• Brother Muhammad Selim complained about the lack of support for Da 'wah activities and especially the Da'wah table at OSU.

• One brother inquired about the possibility of inviting Muslim guest speakers to talk at OSU.

• Another brother complained about the lack of vision and long term planning of Da'wah activities.

• Some sisters asked if they can sit on the Da'wah Table. Brother Muhammad Selim replied by saying that if proper arrangements are made, he sees no problem in doing so.

• Brother Samer Suleiman stated that the social committee arranged visitations to patients in the hospital and accommodations of newcomers to our community by providing them with financial and logistic support.

• Some brothers praised brother Ali Al-Rubaian for managing the MSA finances adequately.

• One brother suggested that the MSA should collect donations for the Masjid more often to cover the rising expenses.

• Sisters inquired about their access to public facilities such as the computer and the library. Brother Khalid replied that he had requested the sisters provide him with a suitable time for them but, received no reply.

• Another brother inquired about systematic savings. Brother Ali said that some brothers are still doing so, and they are looking at different alternatives to promote this process.

Once the discussions on the MSA committees progress reports ended, brother Mouhammed N. Tarazi began his presentation on the proposed constitution of the ISGC. He explained the ISGC structure (e.g. Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, General Body), the function and the relation among the different bodies.

Some brothers complained that there was insufficient publicity for the meeting and that was why the attendance was less than expected. One brother commented that the ISGC is overprotective in its structure.

Some brothers requested that they should be given more time to read the ISGC constitution and to forward their comments. As a result, it was decided that the deadline for submittal for comments will be Friday, October 21, 1994. The ISGC will meet on October 28 to discuss those comments and on November 4 to vote on the ISGC constitution.