Topic: ALBASEERAH: MASJID AS-SUNNAH & SCHOOL UPDATE 2-3-11 (ALL DEVELOPMENTS), BRADFORD, UK


albaseerah.com    -- 02-03-2011 @ 3:29 PM
 
MASJID AS-SUNNAH UPDATE 2-3-2011



Please find an update of all developments in relation to the Albaseerah Masjid and School Project. We would recommend that this document is viewed as a PDF using the following link http://storage.albaseerah.com/masjid/masjidmarch2011.pdf



AssalamuAlaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,

We made a commitment to everyone that we would provide regular quarterly updates regarding the progress of the Masjid and School building. Our last major update was on the 21st October 2010 followed by a brief update on the 28th November 2010. Please visit http://storage.albaseerah.com/masjid/story.pdf to view our last major post.

When we purchased the building, our outstanding loan was 135,000 pounds. This included a 10,000 pounds loan we obtained for essential security and fencing but this was immediately returned as we obtained very high quotes for the work. We could not justify spending that kind of money at the time. Our current outstanding loan figure is 95,047 pounds. The following is a break down of this.
Total Loans - 135,000.00 pounds
10,000 pound security loan returned - 125,000.00 pounds
Total Raised / Balance - 29,952.71 pounds
Still Needed - 95,047.29 pounds


To give some explanation to this, we set up a pledge initiative within Bradford and Leeds asking each person to try and raise 2000 pounds per year for 2 years. Since the purchase date of the building (24th September 2010), we have raised 17,231 pounds from the local community. Of the 29,952 pounds total amount raised 12,721 pounds has come through the global community via PayPal, bank transfers, shop deposits etc. We ask Allah Azzawajal to reward you all for your consistent generosity and we ask Allah to raise you in levels on Yawmul Qiyaamah. Please continue your donations for every penny is making the difference and helping us to creep further towards our goal.

In line with our commitment to clear transparency, we feel it is important to provide you with the following information:

Official Registered Charity
1. Having worked hard in the last 3 months, we are also pleased to inform you that we are now an official registered charity. Our charity name is Foundations for People and the registration number is 1140216. We encourage those who previously attempted to make a donation via their companies to please do so now.

2. We will be working on claiming gift aid on all the previous donations and we will be contacting all UK donors for details to help us claim back an additional 28p for every 1 pound they donated.

Forthcoming fund-raising initiatives:
To provide a variety of means to make donations, we have arranged a text message service for the month of March. All you have to do is text Islam to 70800 and you will automatically donate 3 UK Pounds. The money will appear on your next bill or deducted from your prepaid credit:
Short Code: 70800
Keyword: Islam
Tariff: 3 pounds


We thank our brothers from Bristol for assisting us in making this text service available.

Finally and most importantly, we would like to address the important question:  Why have we still not opened the Masjid?
  
We first and foremost ask Allah to guide us to that which is correct and grant us patience and wisdom in our affairs. We would like to make it clear to our brothers and sisters around the world that our desire to open the Masjid as soon as possible is our utmost priority. But as we communicated in our emails prior and after the purchase of the building, we are trying to proceed with caution by paying our outstanding debts off.
We would like to bring the following quote from our email dated 21st of October 2010:

We dont want to give anyone the impression that a Masjid and School will be built overnight. We have seen many organisations around the world struggle, become divided and sometimes collapse due to extreme pressure coupled with poor planning and structure. We donýt want to fall victim to the same thing. We are therefore committed to taking things one step at a time and let things develop rather than starting everything in one go. Our priority is therefore to pay the loans off.

The masjid will InshaAllah be open for the next 100 years but we must make sure that we are not hasty and do not build the foundation upon quicksand. Our debt at the moment is still extremely high and our calculations have shown that we will require a minimum of 50,000 pounds per year running costs. We are therefore not in a position to open a Masjid with a 95,278 pounds debt looming over our heads. We must think about the practicalities and avoid making any knee-jerk reactions to statements or intents, no matter how sincere they may be.

The second main reason we have not yet opened the Masjid is because we need to make sure that we have a strong infrastructure in place. The day to day runnings of a Masjid, community relations, questions from the people, doubts from the people etc. cannot be underestimated. This requires knowledge. At the moment we have several brothers who have left Bradford and are studying abroad, in Madeenah and Riyadh. Some are close to completing their studies. A core team of people with different skills is essential as it acts as a means towards a successful outcome of a project. We must make sure that we have a good balance of people with knowledge as well as strong administration. We time and time again hear of problems in other communities primarily due to these issues.

A question may then arise, Why did you buy the building so early, why did you not just wait until you got all the money together?

The answer to this is very simple. When we decided to purchase the building, we bought it at a time when the price of commercial buildings was very low. To buy a building of this calibre in strong economic times would have cost us double the price. To give an example, 2 months after the purchase of the building we received an offer of 350,000 pounds for the building. We bought it for 287,000 pounds. The market value of the building at the time was 450,000 pounds.

Although we will not go down this road, but just to make a point of it, in the unlikely event that we sold the building, we would make efforts to pay back every penny to those people who wanted their money back. We are not from amongst those who would be treacherous in our dealings for we fear Allah and the Last day, a day where every deed we performed, we will be held to account for. We ask Allah to grant us and you success in this life and the Hereafter.

Another question may arise: What have you done since you bought the building?
We would like to emphasise again that we are slowly creeping towards the opening of a fully-fledged Masjid. The following activities have already started or are due to start soon:

Current activities at the Masjid and School premises:
1. Regular Islamic lectures every 2 weeks
2. Sisters Tajweed lessons every week
3. Sisters Arabic classes every week
4. Regular Islamic conferences


Starting soon:
1. Islamic weekend school for children
2. Arabic classes for brothers
3. Weekend Islamic courses

Our initial intent was to open a school this September, however due to certain factors this has now been delayed to September 2012. We are taking steps to ensure that we meet this time scale, inshaAllah.

We have answered all of the above questions just to remove any atom of doubt that may arise. Saying this, we are certain that our brothers and sisters will hold a good opinion of us. If you have any question or concern, please do not hesitate at all to contact us at info@albaseerah.com. We are brothers and sisters to one another and no one is above advice.

We finally remind ourselves and you to strive hard in helping pay off this debt. Please donate what you can and inform others. We need places of worship and centres of learning in every city that teach the people authentic Islam, help the community to cling onto their religion, teach people to be good examples to one another and remove the common doubts that have plagued the Muslim community in recent times. And indeed Islaam is free from some of the despicable actions that have been attributed to it. We ask Allah to bless this project and bring about much benefit for the Muslims of today and for hundreds of years to come. And there is no success without the aid of Allah.

Jazakumullahu Khair,
Your Brothers and Sisters at Albaseerah,
WassalamuAlaikum Wa Rahmatullah









http://www.albaseerah.com



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