Masjid One — a vision in the making

Aysha Tanisha
March 29, 2018

The gathering point of the Muslim Ummah or community is the mosque. For Muslims, it is a divine place wherein they connect to their Creator through prayers. It is synonymous to the house of God, as one can see the rich and poor, healthy and ill, educated and uneducated stand alongside one another, praying in synchronization. 

In India, Muslims fall under the minority category. This qualifies the socially and economically disadvantaged Muslims to avail government benefits designed to improve their condition. Till date, due to lack of information and guidance, not many have benefitted from this. NGOs and organizations working for the development of Muslims weren’t of much help, as they have been tackling issues from a surface level.

In the Prophetic times mosques didn’t function solely for prayer purposes. It engaged in activities concerning community development. Many organizations, activists and leaders have insisted on re-working this concept. Mohammed Imthiyaz, a young businessman and social activist, and his team have left for Mangaluru to lay the groundwork for the ‘Masjid One’ plan.

This project aims at bringing all the mosques in the country under one plan of action, with an objective of developing the Muslims throughout India. As per the plan, the Masjid committee will stop by each Jamaat’s home and gather information on the family economy, social status, family members’ employment, health and education level etc. The information thus collected will go on the App. The project will enable Muslims to benefit from government plans and schemes. The poor will be helped by the rich donors. Many mosques are enthusiastic about the project, including the ones from Karnataka, Kerala, and Uthar Pradesh. 

The situation of Muslim community

1. Socio-economic conditions of a considerable number of Muslims in India are too bad. A major part of Muslims is below the poverty line.
2. The literacy level of the Indian Muslim is below the country average.
3. Muslims are often found crammed into ghettos with poor infrastructure and civic facilities.
4. They are often neglected and discriminated.
5. Many of the Muslims are doing menial jobs, working as daily wage laborers which leaves children with no choice but to toil away their childhood too.
6. In poor Muslim neighborhoods, housing facility and basic sanitation is lacking to the point where inhabitants develop various communicable diseases.  

Why Masjid One?

If you are wondering how Masjid One can fight poverty, illiteracy and employment hindrances Muslims face, then the action plan of this project will bring around a ray of hope to relax those furrowed eyebrows.
1. Its vision is to utilize masjids as an epicenter for the betterment of the Muslim populace all over India.
2. Foremost, it will organize masjids and Jamaat’s of Masjids. 
3. Through the Masjid One Platform, it intends to collect, document, process and analyze data concerning all Muslims in India.
4. This is done to identify the most destitute, needy and urgent cases of Indian Muslims.
5. Resources will be identified and allocated for the ones in desperate need of it.
6. It aims at finding sustainable, realistic, achievable and permanent solution to raise the dignity and socio-economic status of the Muslim Community in India.

Advantages of Masjid One

1. The data collection via Masjid One Platform will enable the Muslim Ummah to utilize the resources available in ‘n’ number of ways. 
2. The data collected through and through will be subjected to analysis in order to generate a clear picture of the current scenario of Indian Muslims. This will be instrumental in identifying root problems. As per the needs, various short-term and long-term programs will be designed. Also, execution of sustainable programs will be looked into for empowering the less fortunate Muslim masses.
3. Data collection will be segregated family wise. ( all information on a families socio-economic condition will be noted down)
4. The Data collection includes full details of mosques and khazis across India, including the status of mosques, access to resources, and resources.  
5. It will work in a decentralized way. Work and Contributions are expected from each Masjids, rather than one central body doing all the work.
6. It will use technologies like Data Analytics and Web Technology to optimally solve the problems. 
7. This platform will also facilitate Voter ID and Aadhar registry related work enabling the Muslims to be the rightful citizens of India.
8. Information can be helpful to allocate facilities to all Muslims in India.
9. Resource recognition and resources distribution for Muslims and mosques is the first priority.
10. Muslims can use many government schemes through Masjid One.
11. Motivating and supporting the mosques to generate Income through alternative sources and making them self sustainable and financially independent.

The fundamentals that can be achieved through Masjid One

1. It will create system for Muslim families wherein families with excess of resources and willing to help will reach out to the ones in greatest need.
2. It will also create a Systemwhere Masjids with abundant resources, which are self-sufficient and with the capacity to help other Masjids, to help those Masjids that are lacking in basic and fundamental infrastructure and in greatest need.
3. All India Muslim Development Board (AIMDB) will be eventually formed. This board will take initiatives to bring out new welfare schemes and try to tackle problems prevalent in the society.

Masjid One - Why it is the Solution?

1. It aims to generate more than 10 lakh leaders.
2. It will establish 24 clusters in India.
3. It aims at providing at least 2+ Crores of Indian Muslims are with an income source.
4. It will facilitate pooling of nationwide resources of Muslims.
5. It will create commerce, entrepreneurship and establish support structures.
6. It aims at constructing 5 lakh family trusts, construction of schools, colleges and infrastructure for Indian Muslims and encouraging industry throughcouncilors and chambers. 
7. It will bring together Ulemas, Businessmen, Masjids, Organizations and Muslim Politicians.
8. It will provide career guidance and motivation for youth. 
9. It will create larger and greater Sadaqah Network that reaches maximum number of Muslims.
10. It will raise the overall standard of living among the Muslims.
11. It will focus on education, healthcare, Shelter and other basic necessities of Indian Muslims.

Contributions to the country from Masjid One

1. Every Muslim in the country registered under Masjid One Platform will receive announcements, government updates and other important information within minutes, through instant SMS. 
2. Four mosques can join together and start a school and 8-10 mosques can start an Islamic financial cooperative institution. 
3. Platform may alsowork as a News Portal and News Agency. 
4. It will improve the Economic output by the Muslim communities, consequently improving the GDP of the country.  
5. It will increase the literacy rate of the Country. 
6. It will contribute to Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, by keeping Masjid and its Mohalla surroundings clean.

‘Masjid One’ is a large scale utilization of the data collected on the Indian Muslim population. Its desired result is to uplift the Muslims in reduced circumstances. To ensure this, Masjid One will look into utilizing the existing NGO’s and formation of NGO’s under Masjids and Committees.  Sub- committees that can focus on Jamaat wise and city wise social work will be formed. Assignment of social work will be segregated based on underlying concerns such as Women and Child, Economic upliftment and Self-Reliance, Education and Healthcare. 
 

Comments

Saifuddeen P
 - 
Sunday, 8 Jul 2018

can you Please provide the contact detailes of people handling this project. intreseted in implimenting same in our jamath 

 

 

Saleem
 - 
Saturday, 31 Mar 2018

Highly challenging task in this present era, but nothing shall be impossible if the intention is holy & pure.  I personally pray with almighty Allah to bestow endurance and success upon this team. Aameen. 

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News Network
July 13,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 13:  Karnataka Deputy chief minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan on Monday urged chief minister BS Yediyurappa to cancel the license of private hospitals and private medical colleges which did not hand over their 50 per cent beds, to the government, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister's Office said.

On June 26, the Karnataka government reserved about 50 per cent for COVID-19 patients in some private hospitals in Bengaluru.

Earlier in the day, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that the state government should provide vitamin C drug, Ayush Ministry-certified immunity boosters and sanitisers to every household in the wake of the coronavirus spread.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Karnataka has recorded 38,843 cases of COVID-19 to date.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 21: The Supreme Court in its interim order on Thursday allowed the plea of the Karnataka government for implementation of the final award by a tribunal for sharing of water between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra from the Mahadayi river.

The interim order was passed by a bench comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hemant Gupta after hearing the counsel from the three states. The bench said the final hearing in the matter will take place in July.

It also said the interim order is subject to the final outcome of the petitions filed by the three states against the tribunal's award.

The Mahadayi Water Dispute tribunal had passed the order on August 14, 2018, allocating 13.42 TMC ( Thousand Million Cubic Feet.) water (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) from the Mahadayi river basin to Karnataka.

Maharashtra was allotted 1.33 TMC water while Goa was given 24 TMC in the final decision of the tribunal. The UPA-2 government had constituted Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2010.

Karnataka government, which has locked horns with the neighbouring Goa on the larger issue of sharing Mahadayi River water between both the states, had petitioned the tribunal seeking the release of 7.56 tmcft of water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

The Kalasa-Banduri Nala (diversion) project, which will utilise 7.56 tmcft of water from the inter-state Mahadayi river, is being undertaken by Karnataka to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

It involves building barrages across Kalasa and Banduri, the tributaries of the Mahadayi River, to divert 7.56 tmc water to the Malaprabha river which fulfils the drinking water needs of the twin cities.

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Ram Puniyani
July 20,2020

As Covid 19 has created havoc all rounds, the rulers of certain countries are using it to further intensify their set agendas. The democratic freedoms are being curtailed in certain forms, the reaction to which has come in America in the form of a campaign, which is opposing “stifling” cultural climate that is imposing “ideological conformity” and weakening “norms of open debate and toleration of differences”. In India similar intimidations have been intensified. In addition the occasion has been used by the sectarian forces first to link the spread of Corona to Muslim community and now in the name of reducing the burden of curriculum certain chapters on core concepts related to Indian nationalism are being deleted from the text books.

It has been reported that chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, secularism, Human Rights, Legal Aid and Local Self Government and the like are being dropped. Education has been an important area for communal forces and they constantly keep saying that leftists have dominated the curriculum content, it suffers from the impact of Macaulay, Marx and Mohammad and so needs to be Indianized. The first such attempt was done when BJP came to power in 1998 as NDA and had Murli Manohar Joshi as the MHRD minister. He brought the changes which were termed as ‘saffronization of education’. Their focus is more on social science. Some of the highlights of this were introduction of subjects like Astrology and Paurohitya, and chapters defending caste system, nationalism of the type of Hitler was praised.

With defeat of NDA in 2004, the UPA did try to rectify some of these distortions. Again after 2014 the RSS affiliates working in the area of education have been active, interacting with MHRD officials to impress upon them the need to change the curriculum matching with their Hindu nationalist agenda. Its ‘Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas’ has been asking for removal of English, Urdu words in the texts. It has asked for removal of thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore on Nationalism, extracts of autobiography of M F Husain, references to benevolence of Muslim rulers, references to BJP being Hindu party, apology of Dr. Manmohan Singh for anti Sikh pogrom of 1984, the reference to killings of Gujarat carnage in 2002 among others. This they call as Bhartiykaran of syllabus.

As RSS is a multithreaded hydra one of its pracharak Dinanath Batra has set up ‘Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti’ which has been pressurizing various publishers to drop the books which are not conforming to their ideology. One recalls their pressuring withdrawal of Wendy Doniger’s ‘The Hindus’, as it does present the ancient India through the concerns of dalits and women. Mr. Batra has already come out with a set of nine books for school curriculum, giving the RSS view of the past and RSS understanding of social sciences. These have already been translated into Gujarati and thousands of the sets of these books are being used in Gujarat Schools.

The present step of deleting parts of curriculum which gives the basics of Indian Nationalism, secularism and human rights is a further step in the same direction. These are the topics which have made the Hindu nationalists uncomfortable during last few years. They have been defaming secularism. They removed it from the preamble of Indian constitution, when they put out an ad on the eve of Republic day in 2015. From last few decades since the Ram Temple movement was brought up, simultaneously the secular ethos of India’s freedom movement and secular values of Indian constitution have been constantly criticized. Many an RSS ideologues and BJP leaders have been asking for change of Indian Constitution for this very reason.

Secularism is part of the concept of Indian nationalism. In the name of religious nationalism, sectarian divisive nationalism they have been attacking various student leaders in particular. When we study Nationalism, the very genesis of Indian nationalism tells us the plurality of our freedom movement with its anti colonial roots. The struggle was for Indian nationalism and so the Muslims and Hindu communalists kept aloof from this great struggle against colonial masters, it was this struggle which built the Indian nation with all its diversity.

Similarly as we have equal rights as citizens the chapters on citizenship are being dropped. Federalism has been the core part of India’s administrative and political structure. As the dictatorial tendencies are becoming stronger, federalism is bound to suffer and that explains the dropping of this subject. Democracy is decentralization of power. Power reaching the lowermost part of the system, the villages and average citizens. This got reflected in Local self Government. The power is distributed among villages, cities, state and center. By removing chapters on federalism and local self government, the indications of the ideology of ruling party are on display.

While we are not dealing with all the portents of the planned omissions, one more aspect that related to dropping of chapter on Human rights needs our attention. The concept of Human rights and dignity are interlinked. This concept of Human rights also has international ramifications. India is signatory to many an UN covenants related to Human rights. The indications are clear that now rights will be for the few elite and ‘duties’ for the large deprived sections will be put on the forefront.

In a way this incidental ‘Corona gifted opportunity’ to the ruling Government is being fully used to enhance the agenda of ruling party in the arena of Educational Curriculum. The part of curriculum with which the ruling party is uncomfortable is being removed. This act of omission does supplement their other acts of commission in changing the shape of educational curriculum, which are reflected in RSS affiliates’ suggestions to MHRD regarding Bhartiyakaran of contents of syllabus. As per this the things like regarding the great epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata as History, the things like India having all the stem cell technology, plastic surgery, aviation science etc. will have a place in the changes planned by communal forces!

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