Some Mosques in Toronto are run as personal fiefdom.

Urdu Post, 1^st October 2015, page 16                 www.urdupost.info

Jang Canada, section B,  page D,  Oct. 1-7, 2015                  www.jangcanada.com

Toronto, Canada- Muslim community gives donations for mosques; it has the right to know how money is spent, in many Mosques no one furnishes accounts, cash donations and deposits should be made transparent, some mosques hesitate to give memberships, income and expense accounts should be properly kept. There should be open tender for construction; no one should be allowed to use funds for personal gains, honest people should come forward to hold executive positions. Says Muhammad Kamil

Muhammad Kamil, the convener of the Mosque Reform Committee has urged the Muslim community to demand the spending of donation money in the mosques. For a long time members are appealed to give money for the extension of mosques, but the donors are NOT included the executive of the mosques so that the mosque becomes personal property of some administrators. Many mosques in Toronto and GTA are run by one person or his family members. Every Friday mosque attendees are appealed to give zakat, khairat, and sadaqat, but donors are not included in the executive committees. The sole purpose for this maneuver is to outsmart donors so no one will ask where zakat and fitra monies are spent.

Many members informed Mr Kamil that masjid Farooq Azam solicit monies from people for extension and construction. However donors and people who attend the mosque regularly are not allowed to become members of executive council neither they are allowed to vote.

In many of the big and small Mississauga mosques no one tells the donors where and how the money is spent. One place is run by Hafez Faizan who received donations but there is no executive committee to oversee the spending. If anyone asks him where and how the donations are spent, he gets mad.

On August 29, 2015, Mr. Suharwardi Chairman of Jamia Riyadh al-Janna gave the impression in a press conference the donations of zakat, khairat, are properly managed. Mr. Suharwardi claimed that for the purpose of scrutiny there are 3 members appointed. Regrettably one member lives in Scarborough, and attends the meetings once a month. The second person is extremely occupied, and the third person Mr. Masood Ahmad, is a personal confidant of Mr. Suharwardi. He is the only one who can open the donation boxes, hold keys to the boxes, and deposits whatever money he pleases in the bank.  No details have been provided to the members of this activity.

Mosque Reform Committee demands that this cash system of donations should be banned. It should be given to an independent person to make it transparent. Reform committee is suggesting the names of Malik Rashid, Hassan Raza who offer prayers in the mosques regularly.

Jamia Riyadh al-Jannat has so far not posted the procedure for membership, not is it available on its website. Mosque Reform Committee demands that the criteria should be posted immediately on the notice boards. Similarly Mr. Suharwardi has not furnished details about 13 charitable organizations. He boasts to be directors of such organizations just to gain cheap popularity and raise his stature. He is not associated with any of these. There exist Executive’s Councils of these organizations.

On 20^th September 2015 Mr Suharwardi tried in vain to hold Urs at the Masjid Ghause-Azam, but the existing executive of the mosque did not allow him to hold such a function. In the end he had to cancel the event. Similarly one of the Imam of the Jamia Riyadh al-Janna, Shabbir Aalam is soliciting donations in India. After receiving donations here in dollars, he is dishing out receipts in Indian rupees. Instead of taking action against him, he was dispatched to Saskatoon as Imam of Masjid Riyadh al-Janna.

Mosque Reform Committee said in a press release that it is demanding:

Committees to manage donations by honest and able persons.

• There should be open system for the restoration and renovations of all mosques.
• There should be a procedure for membership.
• Volunteers should be allowed to be members of the executive councils.
• The email data of the mosque should be used for the mosque and a procedure should be established.
• The income from Zakat, fitra and chanda and keys to the donations boxes should be handed to a reliable and independent person. For the donation box two keys and locks should be used.
• All mosque programs, food supplies and the existing system should be made open and transparent.
• No one should be allowed to use the mosque platform for political purposes. Concrete steps should be taken in this respect. One person Mr. Mushtaq Khan used the mosque during the election of mayor of Mississauga. Despite complaints filed against him, no action was taken.
• According to established rules no officer of a NGO can gain monetary benefits.
• Members have the right to ask questions with respect financial matters.
• The politics played out in the mosques and all forms of irregularities should be avoided at all costs.
• Mr. Kamil thanked all Urdu newspapers for airing their concerns as well as for their cooperation in particular Jang Canada, Urdu Post, and Pakistan Times.
• Mr Muhamad Kamil reiterated that he has no grudge against any person. He is against irregularities. For mosques that have shown transparency he applauds them.
• Following persons have declared their support for the Mosque Reform Committee: Muhammad Imtiaz, Ikran Khan, Saeed Naqshbandi, Naser Khan, Syed Safdar Ali, Ali Chisti, Ghazi Salah-u-ddin, Muhammad Shahid, Gulzar Khan, Muhammad Ilyas.