IIUM Usrah Mahallah: A Fulfilled Promise


Last 1 February, Bukhari bin Isahak, once he took from me the office of President of IIUM as-Siddiq College, called his College to bring more betterment to Usrah Mahallah. “Tell the University that we can make Usrah Mahallah better than before,” Bukhari said. He repeated the same call before the University Nuqaba’ Council, almost three weeks later. Therefore, it is not a mere call. It is a call to the University people for a better Islamisation at IIUM and its residential colleges.

Three moves were proposed by Bukhari in order to make Usrah Mahallah better. The first move is amendment to Nuqaba’ Council rules of procedures. This move did not only make Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and Imaratul Masjid Group (i-Masjid) partners of Usrah Mahallah, but also establish a Host Team (called Usrah Mahallah Secretariat) that support the drive of Usrah Mahallah at University level.

The second move is establishment of an Inspectorate for Usrah Mahallah. Like public schools, Usrah Mahallah would have inspectors and supervisors whose role are to ensure the good practice of Usrah in each Mahallah as well as to provide advice to each Mahallah on the best way and mean to improve the drive of Usrah there.

The third move, but not necessarily the last one, is to install Usrah Mahallah Dashboard. For the first time in the history of IIUM, Usrah Mahallah has its own performance measurement. The installation of dashboard in Usrah Mahallah will not only be able to measure overall performance of Usrah Mahallah for a semester, but also to compare and contrast the state of Usrah Mahallah in all Mahallat.

As his predecessor and, now, a member of his Administration, I am proud to see them all, especially when the term of Mahallah as-Siddiq as leader of IIUM Usrah Mahallah came to an official end, last 11 September. Today, SRC and i-Masjid remain partners of Usrah Mahallah, the Inspectorate gets more members with more supervisory duties, and the Dashboard continues to serve as a ‘ruler’ to Usrah Mahallah in the University.

Consequently, the University is able to see the state of Usrah Mahallah in the previous Academic Year. Although IIUM Gombak Campus is still far from the target, it recorded 82.06 percent of least attendance to Usrah Mahallah sessions (and, probably, activities). IIUM Centre for Foundation Studies had done far better than IIUM Gombak Campus. However, the success is not for comparison.

Since the first day of my leadership towards Usrah Mahallah People, I have promised to myself (and, later, to the University and its People) that Usrah Mahallah in IIUM will not be always a competition, but instead a cooperation; and I am proud to see my team and I fulfilled it. Therefore, I would prefer to say that IIUM Usrah Mahallah is a fulfilled promise, especially at the moment I declared to Usrah Mahallah People that Declaration on Usrah Mahallah was fully executed.

In reality, the establishment of Mahallat in IIUM are not necessarily for competition, but also cooperation. When some of us at Mahallat continue working for competition, my colleagues and I continue to promote cooperation inter Mahallat and to uphold cooperation above competition. Although competition had been proposed for Usrah Mahallah, Usrah Mahallah continues to make cooperation its guiding principle.

Grand Iftar, Grand Usrah and Grand Solat Hajat is the best example of cooperation that strengthened the foundation of Usrah Mahallah in IIUM. It was initially three separated activities: Grand Iftar belongs to i-Masjid, Grand Usrah belongs to Usrah Mahallah and Grand Solat Hajat belongs to SRC. Cognisant to the role of cooperation in IIUM Usrah Mahallah and the belief that the people of IIUM must be united at the same mosque, Nuqaba’ Council proposed to the University that three programmes be unified under one pact. The proposal was later endorsed by the University – and I am much grateful for the endorsement.

Alhamdulillah; two series of such programmes took place successfully. Thousands of congregants among the people of IIUM attended this programme. They didn’t only enjoy breaking recommended fast together, but also enjoy praying Solat Maghrib and Isyak together, reciting Surah Yaasin together and listening to Tazkirah from a Muzakkir together. At the end, it is all about cooperation and togetherness of the University People; nothing else.

Although the promise to promote cooperation in Usrah Mahallah has been fulfilled, Usrah Mahallah will continue to stand as a promise to the University and its People. In fact, Islamisation is always a part of Mahallah. Therefore, Mahallah should be an institution that promotes Islamisation of the University continuously.

For that reason, Bukhari introduced Usrah Mahallah Plan 2017-2020. It is not about achieving 90 percent of excellent participation in Usrah Mahallah, but making Usrah Mahallah a successful product of Islamisation at IIUM and its Mahallat. I am happy to see some progresses marked during my service towards IIUM Usrah Mahallah, and even after the change of leadership in IIUM Usrah Mahallah.

As Usrah Mahallah continues to stand as a promise to IIUM, my colleagues (from and under the previous Usrah Mahallah leadership) and I look forward to supporting the University, its leaders and its People in fulfilling that promise through possible ways and means and within available time. We will work together whatever befall us, our University and our People because IIUM is our University; this University belongs to us all. Our University is our responsibility. We are responsible in making our University and our People more successful than before.

As leadership of Mahallah as-Siddiq towards IIUM Usrah Mahallah is over, I take this opportunity, in my own name and the name of my colleagues, to put on record my greatest appreciation to those who have worked tirelessly for the success of Usrah Mahallah and the progress of Islamisation in IIUM. In reality, the success of IIUM Usrah Mahallah does not belong to one person or one group, but to everyone of us. I pray that Allah SWT reward every single effort done for the success of Usrah Mahallah and the next achievement for the University.

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