Role model
How should a Masjid committee be?
Abun-Noor Rashid Ali Attari Madani
The qualities and responsibilities of the Masjid committee can be divided into seven parts:
1. Selection of the Masjid committee and their personal qualities.
2. Selection of the Masjid staff (Khateeb, Imam, Mu`azzin and caretaker).
3. The conduct of the committee with the Masjid staff.
4. Precautions when undertaking construction work.
5. Keeping an eye on the common issues of the Masjid (electricity, sanitisation, microphone, speakers, etc.) and their solutions.
6. Conduct of the Masjid committee with the local and wider community.
7. Some important Madani pearls for the committee in populating the Masjid.
Selection of the Masjid committee and their personal qualities
As it was mentioned in the first part, with reference to Surah Al-Tawbah, verse 18, ‘Only those uphold the Mosques of Allah who believe in Allah, and the Last Day, and keep Salah established, and pay Zakah, and fear no one except Allah;’; thus, it is necessary that the committee members possess certain important qualities on an individual basis so that the Masjid can be populated in accordance to the principles of Qur`an.
When selecting the Masjid committee, the community should always give preference to the Masjid and Islamic education; only those who act fully in accordance to the commands of Allah Almighty should be selected for the Masjid. They should be those who have Iman in Allah and His Messenger, and be firm Sunnis who hold the correct beliefs. They should be those who stay away from heretics, are aware of the beliefs of Ahl-us-Sunnah and be practicing people.
Just like every other Muslim, the five daily Salah are Fard upon the Masjid committee also. Therefore, they should also be strict in observing the five daily Salah, and if it is possible, they should definitely join the Jama’ah [i.e. congregation] for each Salah also.
Similarly, as a Muslim, it is Fard to observe the fasts in the month of Ramadan anyway, however, due to being a representative of the Masjid, the importance of this obligation increases because the public pays close attention to the Masjid committee in the matters of Salah and fasting, and if they observe any laxity, then they begin to make objections. Some people even begin to protest in the Masjid, saying, ‘What kind of committee is this! They neither pray Salah nor do they keep fasts!’ etc.
Good character is a necessary and valuable adornment of a Muslim. Good character is a means of becoming beloved to the Noble Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and gaining proximity to him; the Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘The most beloved of you to me and the ones closest to me on the Day of Judgement will be those who have the best character, those who show affection towards the people, and those whom the people love also. And the most despised of you to me and those who will be furthest from my company on the Day of Judgement will be those who speak excessively about invalid things, misuse their tongues against the people and show pride.’ (Tirmizi, vol. 3, p. 409, Raqm 2025; Makarim-ul-Akhlaq, p. 314, Hadees 6)
The Masjid committee should express good character, gentleness, love, affection and be welcoming. Whether dealing with an attendee of the Masjid, a staff member, or whether engaged in a personal matter outside; they should display good character in every situation.
People do not even tolerate swearing and cursing from an insane person, so for any member of the Masjid committee to commit this foul act is extremely objectionable. This type of behaviour can never become a means of being successful in populating the Masjid, in fact, even if one member of the committee has a habit of swearing and cursing, the Imam, the Mu`azzin, the attendees and even the people of the community avoid supporting them and working towards the betterment of the Masjid, which is clearly harmful for the Masjid and the religion of Islam. Such people should have fear, for swearing has been mentioned as a sign of a definite hypocrite in a blessed Hadees. (Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 24, Hadees 33)
May Allah Almighty make our Masjid committees adherents of the teachings of the Qur`an and Sunnah, and grant them blessings for their service to the Masjid.
اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ النَّبِیِّ الْاَمِیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
(To be continued in next month’s edition… اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه)
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