Bit of a dull and backward article by Sultan and not ''a great post'' as described above - he did not make many points other than to say that people who run mosques should be suitable and suitably qualified, and that parents are also responsible for Islamic teaching.

Hardly rocket science. Not an in-depth piece by any means. It won't have many quaking in their boots that Islam is progressing.
We have deeper problems than this.

Assalaam walaikum and Greetings

Well, mpac, I'm impressed that you have considered one of my articles worthy enough of a discussion.

A Mosque, while it is the house of Allah(SWT), is more of an Institution whos success or failure are directly
determined by the calibre of the people running it. If Mosques are consistantly failing in their duties towards the young and the community, and the failures are common between Mosques, then it is simply down to the fact that such Mosques are governed by the same 'calibre' of Muslims (Mostly 'elders' with little or no formal education in Islamic or Worldy Education, who effectively control what is preached within a Mosque).

Don't get me wrong here. Were it not for such 'elders', we would not have Mosques in the UK to pray in. But we Muslims have not just arrived in this Country. Some of us have been born and bred here, and the UK is the only real place we can call 'our home'. As such, we cannot allow such 'elders' to continue to govern the Mosque as they have done so in the past, where the role model of a Mosque is like the village Mosque back home.

There is far more to a Mosque than mere prayers, and preaching "you will be forgiven".

Here is what I would like to see in a Mosque

1) Accountability.
Only governers who hold formal qualifications show run a Mosque. If a governer is elected, then he should have clear ideas on what he intends to do to 'promote' the Mosque. This should be a point by point set of issues. If he fails, then he gets removed.

2) A Mosque which preaches what Allah(SWT) and his Messenger(PBUH) actually have said, rather than preaching what the Community wishes to hear.

This means having the guts to say "Allah(SWT) will punish you if you lie, cheat, steal, take things which do not belong to you irrespective of whether you have done fasting or Hajj", rather than perpetually saying
"Allah will forgive you if you go to Hajj". Is it any wonder why most Muslims I have met have no issues cheating the system, or lie, etc because they know that once they have done their prayers "they are forgiven".

3) An 'Ask the Scholar' sessions in the Mosque, where Muslims undergoing personal hardship or need someone to talk to about issues, can do so in full confidence that this will not propagate outside the Mosque.

4) Make Mosques inviting. Requesting the frequent praying Muslims to 'welcome' someone they have not seen before rather than ignore them. Also, do not overburden the newcomers to such an extent that they never visit the Mosque again.

5) Make Mosques open to the Sisters. The 'sisters' are the mothers of future generations. If they are not educated and not invited to the Mosque for learning, how will they teach their children.

6) Relevant QURAN/HADITHS of the DAY, posted on the Mosque walls, to encourage learning and good-morals.
This should be related to events of the day (both local, national and international).

7) Free Assistance to prepare a deceased Muslim for buriel. And free counselling/support of the relations.
This means NO MONEY WHATSOEVER for preparation of paperwork, transport of body, washing, storage and burial. Money is recouped via community contributions. We are all going to die, so lets not burden the grieving relatives with money matters or paperwork at the time when they should be comforted.

8) Build Community relationships between Muslims/non-Muslims.

9) Mosque to be politically aware and telling their 'flock' the pros/cons of certain candidates.

Wasalaams

Personally, I happen to be quite proud of the fact that our society respects our elders and we retain that respect in institutions as well. If we lose that respect, we'll lose a great deal.
They are also not so much failed teachers.

It isnt so much as the people who run the mosques are uneducated - they've obviously been educated in Islamic disciplines. They won't fail on questions of Islam and guidance based on our religion. The problem occurs that the fundamentals of religion are not all that are needed to be taught - the education needs to be geared also towards how they can provide greater interaction between the governed (worshipers) and the govenors (our country's institutions).

Problem is that accountability is limited, which I agree, is something that needs to be addressed so that the issues that really matter to the community are the ones being addressed by our mosques.

In this debate on mosque reform, we have to recognise the good that comes about, as well as the areas that they have to work on. A blanket criticism is unwarranted.