Members

• Muslim (Sunni)

• 18 and above

• Pays dues. Dues must be in line with the economic situation of the community (suggest $100 to $500 a year for family). Provide alternative to dues for people who cannot afford them (like volunteering 50 hours per year)

• Meet residency requirements: usually state, county, or city (based on the size of the community). Must follow the state of primay residence, or iD or where taxes are filled

• Agrees to abide by the bylaws/policies

• Never limit your membership to a certain ethnic background. This encourages discrimination or tribalism and both are not Islamic

• No prohibited acts

• Types: based on status

  1. • 1. • Student; full time school or college/university student, single, supported by parents, up to age 26

          • Adult, not a student and over 18

          • Family, spouses, children under 18, children 18-26 who are studenat as above

          • Honorary: examples

            1. • Years of membership: 25

               • Years of service: 10

               • Acheivement on programs and services

               • Donation: certain amount (>10k or >20K) every year for certain number of years (5 or 10)

     • Levels: based on level of donation and meant to encourage people only. Otherwise, all rights and priveliges should be the same regardless of which donation level.

       1. • Supporter: Adult $100 Family $300

          • Sustainer: Adult $300 Family $1000

          • Anchor: Adult $1000 Family $3000

          • Pillar: Adult $3000: Family $10,000

• Must attend at least 50% of general asseblies

• Must vote at least 50% of the time

• Must volunteer in at least one program or service per year

• Must be a community network seeker

• Must be a community network mentor if nominated

• Must pay the membership dues at least at supporter level

• Must follow bylaws and policies

• Must not perform a prohibited act

• Bylaws: 

  • • 1. • Only members should have the right to change bylaws (changes are suggested by community members, BOD and BOT and prepared by BOD/BOT in a very transparent process and then presented to the community to be voted on by the members). 

         • It is not a good idea to allow BOD or BOT to change bylaws without members' consent (most likely they will change them in a way that keep power in the hand of a few people only)

• Voting: 

  • • 1. • Members should have 1-2 years of membership before being able to vote. 

         • Never allow new members to sign up and vote soon after that.

         • You can even require minimum volunteerism and attendance of general assembly to be able to vote

• Runing BOD:

  • • 1. • Members should have 3-5 years of membership before they can be eligible to run for a position on BOD so the community would know them better.

         • You may require 1 year of service on one of BOD committees

         • You may require certain amount of volunteerism

         • You may require certain amount of donation

         • Limit how many consecutive times a member can run for the same board (2 or 3 times). After that a break for 1-2 terms is needed before running again. This prevents concentration of power and dictatorship.

         • A member cannot be on more than one board at the same time

         • Employees of Masjid (and preferably their immediate family members if the community is large enough) cannot be on any board

• Runing for BOT:

  • • 1. • Members should have 10 years of membership plus other qualifications (donations, volunteerism, serving on committees or BOD) to be eligible run for a position on BOT

         • Limit how many consecutive times a member can run for the same board (2 or 3 times). After that a break for 1-2 terms is needed before running again. This prevents concentration of power and dictatorship.

         • A member cannot be on more than one board at the same time

         • Employees of Masjid (and preferably their immediate family members if the community is large enough) cannot be on any board

    • Progams

      1. • All member should be eleigible to register for programs unless the program is advanced and require pre-qualifications

    • Services

      1. • All members should be able to sign for oofered services equally

    • Equal opportunity

      1. • 
           

    • Protection of civil rights

      1. • 
           

    • Network of brotherhood

      1. • 
           

• There are 2 ways to fill lected positions: election vs appointment

• In a starting masjid stage, it is ok to appoint the first board till things are stable (BOD for 3 years and BOT for 7 years)

• The advantages of election are:

  1. • representation of the community, newer ideas, and fairness. Disadvantages are nasty politics and choosing less qualified people

• The advantage of appointment is:

  1. • if it is done right you would choose the most qualified person for the position needed. The disadvantage is that most of the time it is not done right and influential people appoint their allies which leads to concentration of power and corruption

• Best to combine both election and appointment by:

• Having people serve for 1-2 years on a committee before they can run for the board

• Have some candidates run for certain position based on their qualification and expertise (like people with financial experience would run for treasurer position). The rest of the positions can be at large positions

• Add required qualifications fore candidates like: expertise, education, years of service, donations, and volunteerism

• Outside neutral election service or group

• Membership, voting eligibility, and candidacy eligibility are decided according to the bylaws and reviewed by independent group and not based on the selection of BOD or BOT

• Election is better divided into 2 steps: nomination and election

• Use mail-in ballots or secure online election or in-person booth ballots but never run a public election

• Ask candidates to present their bios and agendas then hold a public forum for introduction and questions

• No lobbying or favorite groups/lists allowed as it creates backstabbing, lies, exaggerations, labeling, division, tension, hatred, defamation, and control of aggressors

• All documentations of member registration, eligibility, ballots and steps must be documented objectively and stored in a way the prevent tampering

• Every election should be audited afterward by a neutral group

DOD and BOT model

• BOT appointed the first time for 6 years

• 9-13 members and diverse

• a 6 year term (permanent position are definitely not recommended. It will lead to stagnation and concentration of power)

• Staggered elections of 2-3 every 2 years so each member ends up staying about 6 year. Not having the same people for 6 years helps preventing big disruption and prevent alliances and concentration of power

• Main function of BOT: property decisions (sale, purchase, rent, build) and dissolving BOD if BOD went off mission. BOT should not be able to change bylaws, pick which members are eligible for election (they can only certify a list prepared by an independent group based on bylaws), and definitely must not lobby or develop election lists during election. This should be the most honest neutral board in the community

• Property decisions require 2/3 majority. Otherwise >50%.

• Both BOD and BOT work should be subject to internal and external audit

• Again, I recommend other requirements like serving on BOD first, donation (based on income), volunteerism, education, and expertise