Recalling Usrah Mahallah Reform

"Our duty, today, is to reinstate the glory of Islam in the present world. Tell the world that we are here to make this world a better place for all of us."

Honourable members and delegates,

I wish to inform this Council that this is the last Meeting I sit as the Chair of this Council on behalf of Mahallah as-Siddiq. Next month, President Bukhari will take the Chair and exercise the chairmanship of this Council on behalf of the same.

This move comes with two reasons: to allow him to coordinate the cause of this Council with his commitment as a member of Mahallah Representative Coordination Committee for Biah Solehah and Intellectualism; and to provide opportunities for him to make Usrah Mahallah better, not only for his people, but also the entire University Community.

Therefore, I humbly request this Council and the whole University Community to endorse his chairmanship in this Council and his presidency in his College with your prayers; and, with the same, I ask all of you to acknowledge his Principal as well as advisors, members and servants of Bukhari Administration; and I hope such prayers will be the first of many.

Honourable members and delegates,

Allow me to leave the Chair of this Council, upon the adjournment of this Council Meeting, for the next person.

In fact, it is Mahallah as-Siddiq who chairs this Council since its inception. I just appear before this Council and exercise its chairmanship on behalf of my Mahallah. I am not going anywhere, then. I just pass the baton of chairmanship to another person, but from the same Mahallah.

I will remain in this Council as a ranking member of its Secretariat. I accordingly make a promise to this University, to the best of my ability, to continue my support towards making Usrah Mahallah an effective product of Islamisation in this University through possible ways and means.

I also wish to repeat the Oath I had taken as the President of my Mahallah Representative Committee, two years ago, although I am no longer in that office: that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the University, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and I am sure that this Council shares the same Oath with me.

Honourable members and delegates,

Before I pass the baton, let me tell you: I am proud that we have worked hard together to reform and rejuvenate Usrah Mahallah in this University. We have, even, seen significant achievements that we have created together all this while. Congratulations.

We will not be here in this Council with no reason nor with no support. We are here because we wish to see a better lifestyle in the future, and to establish a better Biah Solehah in our College and our University.

We remain here because we support each other. We are even supported by various persons and body of persons within and outside this University. We thank them very much for those supports. I particularly thank my parents and family members, my Principal and the rest of Council of Principals of Mahallat, my teachers and comrades, members and servants of Muizz Administration, and everyone who have been with me and Usrah Mahallah all this while. I am deeply honoured to receive such support.

At the end, Usrah Mahallah is distinct from everything that involve all Mahallat in this University. Usrah Mahallah is about cooperation, and not about competition.

That’s the reason togetherness is highly crucial for Usrah Mahallah, Islamisation and even this University. Togetherness has been the reason Islam came to its peak, centuries ago.

Our duty, today, is to reinstate the glory of Islam in the present world. Tell the world that we are here to make this world a better place for all of us.

Through possible ways and means, together we establish and continue more endeavours to realise the meaning of Rahmatan lil Alamin. Not only for our people and our University, but millions of Malaysians, and even billions of Muslim population all over the world.

Before we do so, don’t forget one thing: that we are always bound by the principle of “Melindungi Masa Prosedural”. In English, we call them “preserving procedural times”. All endeavours that we wish to make for our people must be timely, and we must honour the time given to ourselves to implement such endeavours.

Before this Council, let me tell you, we will do our best in preserving procedural times, not for our benefit, but for the people’s. And I am sure that President Bukhari and the entire Bukhari Administration will follow and spearhead this principle in this University.

Honourable members and delegates, "Our long national nightmare is over."

Our constitution works. Our great University is the land of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is always Allah SWT, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.

As we bind up the internal wounds of Musolla as-Siddiq, more painful and more poisonous than those of academic failures, let us restore the golden rule to our economic, social and political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.

Honourable members and delegates,

In the beginning, I asked you to pray for President Bukhari, his Principal and the rest of Bukhari Administration. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, not for me, but for Bukhari’s deputy, Ammar Daniali.

May Allah SWT retain His Love and Mercy towards Ammar Daniali as he continues to share his love with his family and friends and to serve his people with dignity and integrity. (You might be wondering why I mention his name. Because he is the man behind the Declaration on Usrah Mahallah, which we have seen that it was endorsed, today.)

To close these remarks and this Council Meeting, I give you my prayer: may Allah SWT forgive our sins and those of our parents, family and friends; bless our life and that of our parents, family and friends, and retain His Grace towards the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue, forever more! Amin.

For the last time as the presiding officer of this Council, and for another time as I am and as a citizen of IIUM: thank you very much for being a wonderful part of my life.

Terima kasih.

AWANG ABDUL MUIZZ BIN AWANG MARUSIN
Chair, Council of Nuqaba' and Naqibaat of Usrah Mahallah
International Islamic University Malaysia

IIUM Council of Nuqaba' and Naqibaat of Usrah Mahallah Meeting 2/2017
Monday, 20 February 2017, 11.00 pm
Seminar Room F, IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, Gombak, Selangor.