Memo to Canadian Muslim Leaders

From: Muneeb Nasir

Date: March 2, 2011

Assalaamu ‘alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh.

I hope this memo finds you all in good health and enjoying the Mercy, the Protection and the Grace of Allah. May Allah reward you for your continuing efforts in the service of the Muslim community.

I am writing this short memo to bring your attention to a serious matter that will affect the future of the Muslim presence in Canada and I would humbly invite you to consider this as a priority task for your organization.

For the last three decades, with your leadership, we have been able to organize ourselves and establish many mosques to serve the spiritual and social needs of our community and have, to a great extent, been able to provide religious education to our children through part-time and full-time schools.

However, we are at a point when we need to look to the future of Islam in this country and I fear we have not planned well in this regard.

Most of our organizations and mosques continue to be led by first generation immigrant Muslim men although our community is blessed with many second and third generation women and men who are capable of leading our community into the future and well suited to assume leadership roles.

The Muslim community in Canada is at an important juncture in its development and I would encourage your organization to look at instituting a process of succession planning.

Succession planning is more than passing the reigns of leadership on to today’s generation who will lead the community forward.

It is an ongoing and dynamic process that will help your organization to align its goals and its human capital needs.

It also will also ensure that your organization will keep pace with changes in our community and today’s society.

Our situation is of such seriousness that if we do not engage in this process now many of our institutions and mosques that were established through great efforts in the last 30 years will cease to exist in the very near future.