Book Review: The Masjid Basics and Management by Tajudeen Yusuf and Lukman Abdur Raheem (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6: Masjid and the Business World

If the aim of a business is to increase profit, the objective of a masjid is to enhance the spirituality of the congregation, making Islam the preferred religion. Da’wah (propagation of Islam) should be similar to business advertisements in many respects. It must possess three objectives. Firstly, information objective. An Imam must provide the congregation with information on matters not only spiritualism but include education, politics, economics, global happenings etc. Secondly, it must contain competitive objective. Imam must learn to compete favourably with other existing religions by means of intellectual debates, round table conferences, discussions which are conducted by maturity, not by acrimony. Third, it must fulfil persuasive objective. Preachings given by Imam should attract Muslims and non-Muslims to the right path.

Since in reality, an Imam has been stripped of his power, we propose a restructure of the masjid’s organisation by repositioning the role of the Imam. He should not be just a paid preacher under dictates of his employer but must assume both spiritual and administrative leadership. During Prophet’s times, he was a leader and employed mutual consultation (shura) and he delegated suitable positions to his companions, for example he tasked Umar bin al-Khattab as administrator of Baitul Mal, Abu Hurairah as custodian for zakat proceeds, Zayd bin Thabit as secretary and Ali bin Abi Talib as his deputy when he was away on an expedition.

Redefined roles of masjid’s committees have a clear assignment and demarcation of tasks as well as a clear line of command. It also outlines minimum qualification for the post so as to uphold the integrity and credibility. The Imam runs the masjid with his officers without orders from the Chairman. In case the masjid is organisationally owned, the Imam will meet regularly to give reports.

Role	Qualification	Task	Reporting to
Imam	-graduate in any field of study -literate in English and Arabic -good recitation and minimum standard of memorisation of the Quran -memorise forty hadith of al Nawawi -converse in all issues -detribalised -above average level of morality	-consults with the head of each unit -leads all congregational activities
2. Naibul Imam (Spiritual)	-meet the same criteria as Imam but must accept Imam’s authority except when he deviates from Shariah	-replaces Imam in his absence for spiritual matters -coordinates educational and da’wah units	Imam
3. Naibul Imam (Administration)	-same criteria as Imam -computer literate -knowledge in accounting and statistics -supervising skills	-replaces Imam in his absence for administrative matters -leads prayers and delivers sermons when both Imam and Naibul Imam Spiritual are absent -coordinates social and finance units	Imam
4. Education Officer	-minimum requirements of conscious Muslim -necessary skills	-runs Islamiyyah School for Arabic and Quranic literacy -runs the library	Naibul Imam Spiritual
5. Da’wah Officer	-minimum requirements of conscious Muslim -necessary skills	-coordinates Usrah -organises public lectures -trains for house-to-house da’wah programmes	Naibul Imam Spiritual
6. Social Services Officer	-minimum requirements of conscious Muslim -necessary skills	-coordinates women group -coordinates affairs of asnaf -supervises humanitarian and social services -general counselling	Naibul Imam Administrative
7. Finance Officer	-minimum requirements of conscious Muslim -accounting qualification	-prepares books of account -invests idle funds -calculates zakat payment -pay salary to staff promptly	Naibul Imam Administrative

If masjid lacks the necessary manpower, it can combine roles, e.g the two naibul imam, da’wah with education, social with finance. Each of the offices can organise a committee and sub-committee for smoother running of tasks. Imam and his officers should attend regular seminars to keep abreast with current knowledge, procedures and technical skills and to brush up on leadership and management skills. This way, their intellectual capabilities are enhanced. As opposed to today’s state where masjid officials are content with archaic knowledge acquired from their Madrasas so when they deliver sermons, they cannot relate stories mentioned in Quran to contemporary issues.