PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR FOR CENTRE IMAMS

Contiuous Professional Development (CPD) is the means through which people maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop the personal qualities required in their professional lives. To enable the Centre Imams to cope with the challenges they face at the rural centres a ten days seminar was conducted by Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya and the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation of KSIMC from the 20th December 2010 to the 30th December 2010.

Sheikh Ayub Rashid born in Arusha, Tanzania, has done a BA in Islamic law, MA in Islam and Community Studies, is a qualified Muslim Chaplain from Markfield Institute of Higher Education in Leicester UK, he is currently a lecturer of Islamic College for Advanced Studies in London and the Imam of Friday Jamaat with Khairul Amal Trust in London.

Upon the commencement of the seminar participants were asked to provide the topics they wished to discuss and the areas they faced challenges to ensure that the seminar equipped them with the necessary skills to overcome these difficulties.

The Seminar was based on the following topics Understanding the Holy Quran & Hadith Prophethood & Succession Shia’ism & Tabligh in East Africa Muballigh Expertise and Fiqh Masail

A special plenary session was kept to discuss the challenges faced by them in the rural areas in each of these topics and through group discussions they would find the solutions to these challenges.

An ACTION PLAN was prepared on the final day of the seminar by the Muballighs as the way forward using the SWOT analysis method setting targets, deadlines and indicators to ensure that information and the skills that had been acquired during this seminar would have a positive impact on the Tableegh work conducted in the rural areas.

Sheikh Ayub’s remarked upon closing this seminar, “Finally, I hope that these seminars will continue and you the participants will put all the theories into practice and will bring changes in your selves as well as to your centers. I believe that you have charged your batteries of iman (faith) and ready to work hard. My final advice to you is that ’when you do your work, do to your best, as our beloved messenger taught us’

Chairman of Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya, Al Haj Abbas Nasser said, “We are grateful to Sayyid Aliraza Naqvi Assistant Secretary General of the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation for his support in organizing this seminar and to Sheikh Ayub Rashid  for facilitating it.   We hope that what has been learnt will be put into practice and that  Sheikh  Ayub will facilitate more of these seminars in the future.”

Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya would like to thank the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation and the Federation of KSI Jamaats of Africa for their support and for co - sponsoring this seminar.  The Mission would like to thank all the participants from Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania, WIPHAS, SHARE and HWG for their participation.  

January 2011