An initiative worthy of support
By Khurshid Drabu
In the last few days there have been comments about the MINAB from a variety of sources including Mr Paul Goodman, the Conservative Shadow Spokesman on Community Cohesion and the latest report from the Centre for Policy Exchange. As one with responsibility for day- to- day work of the MINAB, I warmly welcome scrutiny as well as constructive criticism of the MINAB. However, much of what Mr Goodman has said is unfortunately based on inaccurate facts and not surprisingly therefore led him to what I believe to be flawed analysis. The same applies to the report from the Centre for Policy Exchange.
For a start the MINAB was not "launched yesterday" as Mr Goodman said in his Daily Telegraph piece published on 6 March 2009. Its draft constitution and standards were launched for public consultation in November 2007. The public consultation was extensive and nationwide and was produced a very large number of responses. These responses were considered by the MINAB Steering Group which consists of equal number of members ( four each) from the four founding organisations of the MINAB. The Steering Group was assisted by two experts and I had the privelege to be one of them. Following intensive discussions the draft constitution was revised in a number of ways and so were the draft standards. The revised constitution and the standards were published in January this year as was documentation inviting membership of the MINAB of those who are eligible for membership. A time table has been drawn up setting out the process to the launch of the MINAB on 10 May 2009 at a public conference attended by appointed delegates of all the representatives of the members who will through well established democratic mode elect the Executive Board. The Executive Board will elect its office bearers and will govern the MINAB with full accountability to its membership in the General Council. The MINAB Executive Board will have a minimum of 20% females and 20% of its membership will be from the Shia Muslim communities. In its work and outlook the MINAB is constitutionally committed to be non-sectarian with no role in matters of theology. Again the MINAB is constitutionally bound to be an enabling self regulatory body and not an enforcing regulator. Its strength and power lies in its membership and the desire of our communities to improve. The MINAB objectives as set out in the Constitution include working to make Mosques community hubs, engaged in interfaith activities and programmes to facilitate community cohesion.
The MINAB is not led by any "Islamist" idealogy or group - whatever that means. It is owned by all the Muslim communities in the UK through four major national organisations. These four organisations do not control the MINAB. They are only providing interim resources – human as well as financial - for its development. The MINAB will be fully governed by elected representatives of its membership as from 10 May 2009.
I very much hope that those in power and those aspiring to be in power will learn to respect and accept the leadership that the Muslims living in the United Kingdom choose for themselves. It is perfectly reasonable for politicians to expect that choice of leadership to be made through open and democratic process. And if the elected leadership does not turn out to be the preferred gender, the age group, the ethnicity, the political orientation in the narrow as well as broad sense, it still deserves respect, engagement and trust.
Democracy does not always deliver results that are palatable to all as only one side or group wins as Tories can testify from the results of the last few General Elections. However it is the only form of civic engagement which if genuinely followed and respected can bring progress, mutual respect and peace.
I implore politicians of all shades and hues not to play politics with legitimate aspirations of Muslims to be united in addressing the difficult issues facing them in the practice of their faith living as minorities in a democracy. I urge Muslims to come together as followers of true Islam – the religion of peace and reason, the religion of equality and social justice, the religion of innovation and progress
The MINAB as a community conceived, community led and community driven initiative deserves to be judged on its aspirations and the delivery of those aspirations. It needs a fair chance to come into being and to deliver on the standards which its membership own by joining it. The MINAB does not aspire to be a statutory regulator as Mr Goodman appears to think. Such aspiration would negate the very purpose of its existence. Its role is to enable its membership to succeed under the excellent regulatory framework of the Charity Commission and with which the MINAB works well and closely.
(Khurshid Drabu is a retired Senior Immigration Judge and a Barrister)
republished from The Muslim Weekly
