The Federation of Student Islamic Societies

Annual Council Report 2011

President - Nabil Ahmed

"FOSIS is a historic organisation with a unique role of creating leadership for transforming the collective futures of Muslim communities. I am both glad by the realisation of this role and inspired by the direction FOSIS' leadership is taking in recent times - not only through political maturity but also delivery and growth. Keep taking advice, work hard and have a vision, and trust Allah!" - Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE, Chairman of East London Mosque and former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain Mashallah, FOSIS has gone through huge transformation. May Allah reward you. .. I ask Allah to give barakah to all that you do. FOSIS is very dear to me... Two slogans for your consideration: 1. Uncover the past to design a better future. 2. The cultural roots of science enhances social cohesion and inter-cultural appreciation. - Professor Salim Alhassani, Former FOSIS, today Founder & Chairman of Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilization and initiatives including 1001 Inventions. Count me in and would assist in whatever way to keep the alumni active and beneficial to the ummah. - Dato Mohamed Iqbal, Founding Secretary of FOSIS, today Executive Director to Farlim Group (Malaysia) and Secretary-General of the ASEAN Business Forum. I thank you sincerely for your letter. It was one of the best messages I came to receive in many years, perhaps the best. I am delighted to know from your writing that FOSIS continues to carry the torch of enlightenment and brotherhood with a keen sense of "global civic responsibility" emanating from our everlasting commitment to the universal Muslim Values. One of the earliest mottos adopted by FOSIS was the verse: "You are the best community evolved for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and you believe in Allah" (III,110). In summary, to our generation, FOSIS meant: pure intention, selfless work and untiring efforts to present the best for mankind, with respect, compassion and mercy. What we have done is so little, compared to what remains to be accomplished. - Professor Talip Alp, Former Secretary of FOSIS, today President, Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey I have worked closely with FOSIS this year, and I have detected an impressive step change in the Federation- it is growing in size and stature, looking closely at financial planning and Governance and taking its development seriously. It is growing in credibility in the education sector and is using its enhanced organisational coherence to rapidly respond for its members as a serious political player. Whilst NUS has always sought to build a positive, constructive relationship with the Federation this relationship has strengthened on matters of mutual interest in the past year. - Jim Dickinson, Director, National Union of Students

Ireland Visit February 2011

Meeting with Founding Secretary - September 2010

Protest vs tuition fees proposals December 2010

All praise be to Allah who alone is the Creator, Master and Sovereign of the universe. There are two hadith which have been at the core of my mind this past year. It was reported in al-Bukhr and Muslim by our mother Aishah (ra) that the Prophet stayed up all night in prayer, standing until his feet became swollen. When he was asked, Why are you doing this, when Allah has forgiven all your past and future wrong actions? he replied, Should I not be a grateful servant?. This sense of gratitude is the starting point for all our work. The second is where the Prophet remarked that even if the Hour were to occur and you were holding a seed in your hand - that you should plant it. As I was taught, this notes the contribution we must leave behind, and the urgency of our work ahead of us. This embodies FOSIS and the mindset we all need to hold. The past year for me has been to realise the great heritage and immense potential of this organisation we have been blessed with, and how we have all been blessed with as individuals to be here to do this work for Allah. Thinking not about solely this year, but planting seeds for decades ahead. Too often we have worked hard to prepare services for one year, or please one other whilst we must have services par excellence this is not good enough for the responsibility we hold today. Our governance is weak, our capacity is limited, our influence is growing but moderate, our consistency and excellence wavers. Yet I believe, like others, with all my heart that we can be the organisation that makes the single-most significant impact for our community inshaAllah. To get there takes transformational change but it isnt beyond us it will take sincere vision, hard work and tawakkul. That is how I have sought to expend relentless focus this year, alongside serving our membership. That is why this year alhamdulilah is the first with a full-time President in over a decade, a courageous and comprehensive New Dawn governance project, and 2 new staff with dedicated resources for growth and fundraising; as I write this we are finalising our entry into an exclusive student-accommodation facility for sisters in North London. On top of all of that, we have been in touch with alumni of FOSIS who are leaders around the world 2 years ahead of our 50th anniversary. Volunteers in FOSIS have delivered a phenomenal year, may Allah accept all our efforts. This report wont be able to do it justice from the tireless efforts to organising speakers tours, getting more students politically engaged, charity week , representing to the Universities sector or just with our regional committees engaging and serving local Islamic Societies. Islamic Society training has evolved, and plans have been drawn inshaAllah for a new training programme in the coming year. And indeed, there has been a serious effort, to seek excellence in three areas which have not succeeded in recent years: Speakers Tours, Freshers Packs (looking ahead) and our Annual Conference. Please be the judge of this.

1. WHAT I

HAVE BEEN UP-TO,

With ISOCS
Assisted in Freshers Pack organisation this year, following contract from last NEC, with Head of MR. 20 Islamic Society visits this year, including going to Ireland and Wales sadly not Scotland. Spoke (not presentation) at ISOCs incl Cambridge, Hull, Man Met, EGM @ Manc. I hopped on speakers tours with Idris Tawfiq, Abu Hafsa, Nasir Karimian and Yusha Evans.

ALHAMDULILAH..
Resource Development
All about the institutional growth of FOSIS. Organisations incl the NUS, UJS and others not only have strong structures, but staff at core and steady income streams. FOSIS? Does not. 1 year ago: 1 office member. Now: 4 full-time. This year gained funding and recruited two staff members in partnership project with a charity. One is fundraising, other is marketing. I led on this from start to end with substantial agreement, recruitment and management. Gained further funding to allow President to be a full-time sabbatical position (since end March). Quit my corporate job to do this. Strategy for fundraising campaigns + investment and resources been gaining momentum since Dec, led by Ameen.

Governance A New Dawn

Ambitious project to transform way FOSIS works himmah body incl 2 former FOSIS Presidents and current NEC to drive it so far set a new organisational vision, purpose and values there for many years ahead looking at legal status with lawyers & major orgs as I write this, election rules, future: structure consultation with experts, Isocs, alumni. 70 Isoc/Team FOSIS responses to vision stuff!

Alumni
FOSIS has phenomenal alumni incl Ministers of States, those like Dr.Hany and Prof Salim. FOSIS not been in touch with them..til now. Got in touch / met with. Been in touch with Prof Salim, Prof Talip Alp, met Dato Mohamed, Anwar Ibrahim, Mustafa Osman, Dr.Hany and many others. Very positive, very inspiring there to help us grow.

Education Funding & Extremism

Education funding has been a high priority. ASK ME about alternative student finance (solutions re interest rates on student loans) Campaigned against fees rise, esp interest rates on ground, in media, with Muslim orgs too Aimed to build on past years but mature FOSIS political approach amidst continuing challenges facing campuses re extremism & speech. Our VP SAC has extensive report, this is my bit. Conceptualised and helped organise Radical Thinking Conference, to mark our new approach on campus extremism & speech. Sought to increase credibility in education sector

Representation
Met with orgs including Islamic Relief, 1st Ethical CT, Demos, Muslim Youth Helpline, Emel, MCBYouth, Islam Channel, Islamic Foundation. Government: Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills relation to tuition fees & interest. Media incl writing for Guardian and Times and appearing on BBC London News, Radio 4 & others. Built int. links with MSA National (USA, Canada). I sit on MCB Central Working Committee. All meetings attended. For non FOSIS events I spoke at GPU, student rallies, many other events incl Young Writers Awards & with Friends of Al-Aqsa. Related work including running a workshop in Banbury for schoolchildren to help accessibility. I attended NUS Conference to speak & to support.

Addressing..
Charity Week the most wonderful project on campuses today despite success alh, long-term issues of how CW being led at moment sought to resolve, leading internal process to now talk to all involved at ULU and Islamic Relief. Some broken relationships in previous years with key Muslim orgs sought to mend. Sought to build internal tarbiyyah & unity through Jummah reminders on weekly basis. Reminders (weekly) looking to develop further..

Though the above reflects areas of focus, as President I Continue to be involved in leading the National Executive Committee in its work, in particular the Vice-Presidents. I work closely with the Vice-President THR in the management of the NEC. With it comes responsibility and accountability for our direction. So on one level strategy setting for FOSIS sits with myself, which is something we achieved in Nottingham earlier in the year; on second level it is my role to be involved in work that includes training for FOSIS, political stances, bringing speakers to our annual conference and so forth. I manage our two full-time staff, Ameen Umarjee (Financial Dev.) & Rehan Iqbal (Marketing).

Radical Thinking Conference April 2011

Vision meeting April 2011

2. A REFLECTION

OF

FOSIS COLLECTIVELY THIS

PAST YEAR

There is so much to remark on, my precursor is to say that my summary does it little justice, please consider this just a summary! For the proper detail please look to the full reports. On the Regional Committees front, a positive but mixed report. For starters, Regions have been the engine room of FOSIS and everywhere worked solidly. Has been inspiring to see the growth of the South region for the first time in such a way, and the London region picked up mid-year under Asif a region whose potential is undoubted. Ireland and Wales have been productive and excellent as ever mA, Midlands and Scotland have been consistent, with thanks to Zain for the former. North need to pick up. Leadership of regions inconsistent. Positive to see ISCC undertaking reform/focus towards development of Isocs. Excellent round of AGMs, may Allah reward you Amandla, youve been solid & defined VPISCC in a way that encapsulates its purpose. Services: delivered strongly Hammad (and team), jazakumallahu khayran. Number of successful speakers tours, with minimum voluntary capacity. Quantity high, and quality mostly high though some minor issues due to lack of FOSIS capacity. Job well done. Campaigns: We are the charity week generation CW was as ever successful, growth in new regions, FOSIS now shaping CW (see above for further details). A truly flagship project that we need to enable and grow. Disappointing in other areas, esp following the Arab Spring as well as local community project and has been weak for more than a year needs to be addressed. Members Relations: heroic year. Saved freshers packs project earlier this year, best winter conference in years, early start to freshers packs and to FAC. Overall excellent mA. Cultivating leadership: (what weve done generally speaking). Artistic Jihad (MR) was a phenomenally exciting new project we need to appreciate how groundbreaking it is. John Adair event (Services) was an event like we has never done before, perhaps my favourite speaker this year. Commitment: some members have been excellent, some have notably not pulled their weight. We need to improve our culture, recruitment and policies to prevent lacklustre performances.

Continual issues of peoples character and adab came up often the root of issues comes back to this this has been addressed but needs to continue hold fast to the rope of God... SAC: FOSIS remains, though often unrecognised, the constant defender of Islamic Societies and Muslim students. It is difficult again to sum this up but there has been dialogue with Universities and Union, defence of speech on campus, liaison with the NUS constantly and a delegation to the NUS. Its a difficult place to be but its the key a) line of defence, and b) hope of future political change by building capacity in political leadership. Positive but need to ensure we have more NUS delegates next year. See SAC report for further details. Media: overall a positive year, with some quiet spells. Improved stances. Weve appeared collectively this year in Guardian, Times, BBC Online, but also on BBC London News, Islam Channel et al. Stories have revolved around Tuition fees (semester one) and Campus extremism (semester two). Special mention: Zn Derfoufi (SAC) for work on Schedule 7 and challenging draconian legislation. Finally, jazakallahu khayran massively to Faisal for constant support and advice and wisdom, without which I would have been lost! And jazakiallahu khayran to our VPTHR sister Amal for her tireless efforts being VPTHR is more about Vice-President and managing the NEC, which has been done with proficiency, as it is the THR, where the ball has got rolling See her report for further details.

Nottingham Isoc February 2011

Central London Rally November 2010

Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed signs for those are endowed with insight (Quran 3:190). Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Nay, on the hearts there are locks (Quran 47:24). Let us reflect with sincerity and through constantly returning to sacred knowledge on our purpose and our role for His sake. I believe firmly that FOSIS has the potential to change a generation for our community, and I pray that our efforts this past year have cultivated our ability to do that.

We ask for your feedback and your accountability, it can only strengthen our collective movement. FOSIS is yours, and will only succeed so far as we all do our bit. Please forgive me for all of my shortcomings, for all of our shortcomings collectively, and please help us in this work and make dua that Allah azza wa jall makes us sincere, guides us, unites us, protects us, strengthens our work and that we strive to live on His Almighty path.

Wa alaykum salaam warahmatullah Your brother, Nabil Ahmed President

Vice President Training and Human Resources- Amal Saffour

In the name of Allah, Lord of all the worlds, Salaamu Alaikum Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuh. Although now completing my fourth year in FOSIS, it is when you get to such positions that you realise the magnitude and meaning of the oft-repeated phrase: we still have a lot to do. FOSIS is a rapidly growing body and institution with numerous and ever increasing demands from a variety of stakeholders, and with great potential of impact on the British Muslim scene. Despite this, our capacity and resources, and the time we invest into them is limited and minimal. These two contrasting and pulling directions most definitely have a great impact on the inner running of the organisation, its volunteers, and their day to day experiences. The Vice President Training and HR position is split into two main focuses:
1- The Vice President Function 2- Training and Human Resources (which are also two separate branches)

1- Vice President

This role took up the bulk of my time- perhaps around 80%, and yet is very difficult to describe. A lot of it centred around:
General Management, support to President and NEC- As such a large organisation and NEC, management is constantly required, as well as support and mentoring either at certain periods or to certain members who may require greater assistance. E.g. at the beginning of the year, many members of the NEC required assistance in drawing up plans and forming their committees. Management and support, in particular to the president, also involves assisting in issues which may arise. An example of this is Charity Week. Advice- Much of my time was spent receiving phone calls from members of the executive, or other volunteers, who required advice and direction. Although quite frequent throughout the year, this was very intense at certain periods. It also revealed what concerns and difficulties volunteers faced, and how these can be resolved. Head of Communications role- this year, our head of communications stepped down in November. Since I had taken on this role in the previous year and had been assisting the head of Communications, I took over the role from November till February. This was not an ideal scenario, and we searched for someone to take over the role, but with difficulty. In February, Sr Fathima Shah of the Midlands Committee took over, although I continued to play a big role in mentoring the position until ACM 2011. The effects of this situation- having 2 roles, or one and a half- meant that a lot of my work was pushed back or had to be rushed towards the end of the year.

Dealing with complaints/discipline- There were a fair number of complaints to deal with this year, most of which was dealt with through empowering those complaining in producing their own solutions. However, at times they were serious. This aspect of work has perhaps been simultaneously the most enlightening and the most difficult part of my role, and highlighted the importance of good manners, training, and tarbiyyah required both within FOSIS, and generally within our communities. It also highlighted a certain work ethics and culture which permeated certain committees in FOSIS, making work very difficult and emotionally exhausting for some. FOSIS needs to look at developing a culture of harmony, unity and feedback in order to avoid this.

2- Training and Human Resources

Training and Human Resources is a crucial department within the organisation, and one which requires great attention in the coming years. This is because:
FOSIS membership is rapidly increasing Members are thrust into challenging roles with minimal training and support The structure of the organisation, particularly with increasing demand, is growing in a sprawling haphazard manner with little management, causing great implications Planning in FOSIS tends to be short-term, despite the great impact and potential it has on the Muslim British community and scene

Whilst Training and HR are areas which need much insight and long-term strategic planning, particularly as they are to do with areas of governance which will impact heavily on the organisationand which need to be addressed immediately- it has been a challenge to do so whilst being vice president and dealing with management and the nitty-gritty at the same time. My approach was to avoid short-fix solutions which I felt had been employed in the past, and focus on research and longterm planning, so that when we implement changes they will be effective and long-lasting. This year, THR included:
Professional Review- a pilot project led by Br Hasan Khan of Hull Isoc, which researched and collected information on teamwork within FOSIS and the experiences of our volunteers. This was carried out through both group sessions and surveys. The results revealed many of the issues faced by those working in FOSIS, including issues of work ethics, communication, egroup culture, support and teamwork, as well as highlighting positive practices and successful committees. The results also highlighted the dire need of training and better governance within the organisation, as well as the challenges of working as an online team dispersed across the country. The results of Professional Review will prove extremely valuable for future planning in the THR department. Governance- This project encompasses all which I have mentioned above. Although it began in the previous year, this year we did not move on it immediately until we were sure that the rest of the executive committee had understood it and supported it, and that we had conducted enough research with people of experience in order to know how to begin the project in an effective manner so that it would last and bear its fruits. The project was led by the President, with myself in my THR capacity playing a heavy role, particularly in the initial research which looked at the Purpose, vision and values of FOSIS, and in which many Isocs and members of team FOSIS took part.

As part of governance, I have been working on developing egroup protocols, disciplinary procedures, and rules of conduct for the organisation.

Training: Training is a very big challenge, particularly as team FOSIS are dispersed and have varying and diverse needs. This year I dealt with the basics which were required in training (e.g. roles, introduction to FOSIS etc).Despite the fact that members of team FOSIS did ask for certain services with training, I focussed on research and long-term planning so that an effective annual training package could be developed in the coming year.
Strategy Weekend, July 2010- Gathered team FOSIS for the first time to look at strategy for the year ahead. Although good in many ways, upon feedback and reflection, the gathering should have focussed on team building and skills, as opposed to strategy. This will be incorporated for the coming year, inshaAllah. Training for regions and new members as an introduction to FOSIS, its structure, and the role of regional committees. This also involved visiting Scotland for the first time. Fenemona Fortnight Weekend- a fortnight of online training sessions on various roles in FOSIS, covering vice brothers, services reps, gensecs, and others. Planning for an annual training programme for team FOSIS next year.

My main recommendations for the future:

Vice president and Training and HR roles should be two separate roles. Both are very important and heavy, and require massive amounts of time, yet in contradictory manners. Effective management of the NEC is crucial. How this is achieved, and whether it is simply the Vice President and President that do so, must be looked into. Training and HR requires heavy investment, including time and financial support. Consulting external professionals and alumni is extremely important- more so than current FOSIS members. Our attitude and manners are at the heart of all solutions. If we can work on them with sincerity, then we are truly on the path to brotherhood, teamwork, and real big change...within our Isocs, within FOSIS, within our communities. We need a culture shift. Away from difficulty, competitiveness, and being controversial, to harmony, unity and feedback. With this, we will succeed.

Wasalaamu Alaikum Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuh

Vice President Islamic Societies-Amandla Thomas-Johnson

Summary page Projects: Isoc 101 Further Education Project Islamic Societies Research and Analysis Isoc Committee gift packs Discover Islam Week Guide National Qiraat Competition

Achievements Failures 1/3 of Isocs still not affiliating Financial issues Too much focus on projects lack of grassroots development Record affiliations 82 Early Isoc 101 held in every region Launch of Islamic Societies Research and Analysis All new Regional Committees elected - chaired 6/7 AGMs

Core team: Alaa ISCC Deputy Saira ISCC Treasurer Asma ISCC Gensec Rashid ISCC Ex-Officio

Project heads: Isoc 101 Lotifa Begum ISRA Sabiha Ahmed Further Education Nura Ali National Qiraat competition Omar Ali Committee gift packs Saira Choudhury Discover Islam week guide Islam Otmani and Abdullah al-Ateeqi

Introduction: ISCC aims

As Vice President for Islamic Societies at FOSIS my main responsibilities fell into two main areas, the first of which was heading the Islamic Societies National Co-ordinating Committee (ISCC) which acts as the grassroots core of the organization and is responsible for operating a number of national projects and initiatives. The second entailed me advising, liaising and following up with Regional Chairs and their committees to ensure that work was being done on the ground. The committee aims which were decided early on in the year were:

1) To create a strong and positive relationship with every Isoc by accurately understanding Isocs, and to serve them on this basis. 2) To act as a platform to facilitate Inter-Isoc collaboration, and to showcase Isoc best practice, excellence and experience. 3) To empower Isocs to work together independently. 4) To develop regional committee members in knowledge and experience through training. 5) To seek and acquire sustainable financial security throughout the year for all ISCC projects. 6) To emphasize the importance of Dawah, Islamic Knowledge and Spiritual Development. 7) To empower Muslim students in Further Education and extend educational and Islamic resources of Universities to FE students.

Regional Work Set up regular meeting with regional committee heads discussed Isocs issues and followed up with them where necessary. Where necessary met directly with Isoc Presidents/Committees to discuss issues which could not be dealt with on a regional level. Chaired 6 Regional AGMs in Ireland, South, London, North, Midlands and Wales and West, and ensured that committees are well equipped for next year. Arranged for Scotland AGM to be chaired by Ammad. Visited every region at least twice apart from Scotland which I visited at the beginning of the year. Support and advice during important transitional stages: - Went to Scotland and Wales to train new committees (2010-11) - London Chair departure meant I had to head process to elect new chair - Encouraging smooth handovers of newly elected regional committees.

Projects Isoc 101 held early and more than once in some regions For the first time Isoc 101, the flagship Isoc training programme, was held at the beginning of the new academic year in every region, meaning that Isocs had a firm foundation from the year beginning from which they could build on. This was led by Sr Lotifa who in total organised 10 sessions throughout the UK and Ireland. The sessions generally went well Numbers for each session averaged at 30+ some going as high as 50. I personally travelled to Ireland to oversee the session there, and conducted a whole day of training in the South for Exeter and Plymouth Isocs, as well as giving other sessions in both Surrey and Middlesbrough. It will be important in the future for us to view the year holistically, and see training as an ongoing process, not just something which is done once at the beginning. The content had not been developed much from previous years, and so this has to be addressed in the future also.

Isoc Gift packs This was a new project led by Sister Saira in which each affiliated Isoc committee would receive a bag full of useful items including an Isoc resource CD, a Seerah books, and a book of beneficial Sunnan. Though the packs were made in November, there were many distribution problems in some regions, and so some Isocs only received their packs within the last month, if at all. Feedback was generally positive though it was pointed out that some Isocs already possessed the items in the packs. The large cost of the project was also problematic.

ISRA Islamic Societies Research and Analysis The Islamic Societies Research and Analysis project was a project which aimed to gain insightful data from Isocs so that we could understand trends, issues, and concerns and therefore respond to them in a fitful way. The project was led by Sister Sabiha Ahmed who gathered a team around her to compose the survey. One potential stumbling was that we realized that Isocs might be reluctant to fill out what turned to be a relatively long survey. Through persistence, the team was able to get approximately 62 ISRA surveys filled out. In my opinion, this project was a landmark. For the first time FOSIS had a detailed understanding of its constituent members something which will allow us to serve our Isocs better in years to come. Though 62 Isocs represents the majority of our affiliates, we need more Isocs filling this out in order for us to gauge national trends and tendencies.

National Qiraat Competition This project was led by brother Omar Ali and has or is about to take place in every region except Scotland. Turnouts have differed from region to region the Irish competition which I attended had approximately 20 brothers, whilst in other regions there were as little as 5. More importantly than numbers is the fact that there are many more people who have been inspired to read the Quran as a result of the competition. National finals will be held at FAC 2011.

Further Education This project led by Sister Nura and first saw us create database of colleges in certain key cities, including London, Leicester and Manchester. The next step was to contact colleges to introduce ourselves, and then to offer open days, in which college students could meet members of FOSIS as well as get advice and support about how to run their Isocs. Though we were unable to launch any open days we started building stronger relationships with many colleges, and were able to support colleges who sought to establish Isocs, whilst in conjunction with SAC we were able to offer advice about setting up prayer rooms. It is essential that this project has a much larger number of people if it is to succeed in the future.

Discover Islam Week Guide For the first time, ISCC were able to compile a comprehensive guide to running an Islamic awareness week from start to finish. Despite the quality of the guide its release in February may have been too late to benefit many Isocs.

Challenges

Isocs still not affiliating Preoccupation with projects and admin meant little room for real grassroots work Existing structure a constraint I found it difficult to engage with Isocs as the current structure mean that Isocs tend to liaise solely with the regional chair, who in turn liaises with me. Head of ISCC is often someone who has substantial Isoc experience, and so should have a closer relationship with Isocs. Time especially after Winter break, personal circumstances meant that I found it difficult to devote as much time. Money Previous deal with Islamic Aid was not renewed MCF deal not completed.

Recommendations

Complete and total rethink of ISCC it needs to be more focused towards Isoc development. Projects or work which does not fit with this, needs to be siphoned off elsewhere. ISCC has to be more grassroots orientated the committee has the highest concentration of Isoc Presidents anywhere in the country, but yet the expertise and experience is being wasted on offering services to Isocs rather than tackling issues on the ground There needs to be a consistent source of income for ISCC this is key

Conclusion I would like to say JazakumAllah khayran to everyone who worked in ISCC this year. I feel I could have done a lot more, and I ask that you all forgive me for my shortcomings.

Vice President Student Affairs- Alaa Sammarai

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu My role as Vice-President Student Affairs means I primarily manage the Student Affairs Committee, otherwise known by its popular acronym, SAC. SAC is the political heartbeat of FOSIS, leading and serving civic & political work for Muslim students in a variety of arenas; at a local level in Students Unions and nationally through the National Union of Students (NUS) and the government, amongst other organisations. Our work varies from speaking to and supporting Isocs on a local level with representation and welfare on campus (prayer rooms, halal food, non-alcoholic events, etc!), defending Isoc speakers and freedom of expression, campaigning against the rise in tuition fees locally and nationally, and contributing towards positive narratives of Muslim students in the face of increased scrutiny and victimisation.

SubhanAllah its hard to believe that a year has passed already. Looking back, many mistakes and unfulfilled promises were made which I take full responsibility for. Alhamdulilah, whilst a rewarding and exciting role, it has been a challenging year, particularly in light of the new challenges facing Muslim students in higher education. However, it has enabled me to identify the key areas in our work which are lacking and the obstacles which are hindering our progress that have allowed us to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. In this report I will briefly outline what we've been doing this past year, our achievements and our failures and recommendations for next year.

Grassroots The grassroots team, structured in the form of regional reps (Scotland, North West, North East, Yorkshire, East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales, London, South and Ireland) has the duty to firstly provide Isocs with the tools and expertise to engage politically with their University and Students' Union, and secondly to disseminate the work of SAC (primarily conducted at the projects side of the committee) to the Isocs. Over this past year, and particularly in recent months, we have seen a good number of Muslim students running for positions in their SUs, and alhamdulilah we have witnessed many successes across the country. Success is due first and foremost to Allah, but also to our Isocs who have led on this front and have made these great achievements. We also received a very positive response from Isocs around the governments higher education funding proposals, which I have outlined further below. Unfortunately however, the same cannot be said for the number of NUS delegates we secured this year, which has demonstrated the ground we have yet to cover on a grassroots level.

There was a big focus on recruitment at the beginning of year to build our grassroots team, however we faced some difficulty in particular regions which unfortunately affected our work. Furthermore, regional reps faced other issues when trying to communicate with Isocs which delayed their progress and at times was quite de-motivating; this has raised some serious questions about our internal support structures as well as inter-committee communication, both of which we need to strengthen to help aid our volunteers in their work. However, having said that, I feel the need to reiterate what I said back in my Winter Council report; we need a team of serious and dedicated reps operating in our regions, who realise the importance of working within the timeframes and deadlines that are set. This is something that should be taken onboard when recruiting for next years committee, as well as a need to develop clear guidelines between SAC and ISCC on the function of regional reps and their role within their regional committees.

NUS FOSIS relationship with the NUS is instrumental in securing the needs and representation of Muslim students at a national level. This year our relationship has remained strong, particularly on issues surrounding the governments higher education funding proposals and its impact on Muslim students such as the introduction of interest based loans, as well as ensuring their support on other matters concerning the welfare of Muslim students. NUS Annual Conference is often a benchmark for how successful our progress within the NUS has been that year. This year we saw the re-election of Br Usman Ali as Vice-President Higher Education, a position of great influence within the NUS and we pray that Allah gives him strength and makes his job easier for him. Sr Fatima Junaid was also elected onto the NUS Democratic Procedures Committee, another very positive achievement alhamdulilah. However, Br Mo Saqib, our supported candidate for the part-time Block of 15 was regrettably unsuccessful. This loss will have implications on FOSIS standing within the NUS, and so it is recommended that a strong strategy is set for next year to avoid a repeat of this next year. On a lighter note, several FOSIS policies were passed which covered multiculturalism, hate crime, Schedule 7 and interest on student loans. Also, most notably, the NUS have recently passed policy to support Palestine, a truly remarkable feat that FOSIS was involved in.

Tuition fees/student loans Following the release of Lord Browne's review of Higher Education Funding in October, the Coalition Government proposed several changes to the higher education funding system which included trebling tuition fees, proportionately lower grants, a rise in interest rates and massive cuts to University funding. Now that a significant part of these proposals have passed, Muslim students are facing a real danger to their access to higher education. Before the release of this report, we sent a letter to Lord Browne expressing our deep concerns with the review, particularly highlighting the impact an increase

of interest rates would have on Muslim students. Furthermore, we created several toolkits that were distributed to all Isocs to raise awareness of the serious detrimental impact these proposals will have and encouraging participation in the national NUS Demo, local actions and raising awareness on a local level through Jumah khutbahs which we also provided. Alhamdulilah, we saw an increase in Isoc participation, a good turnout of Muslim students at the demo, and good coverage of our stance in mainstream media such as the BBC and The Times. Our work however doesnt end there. Since then we have been in ongoing dialogue with key organisations to explore alternatives to higher education funding, as well as researching the possibility of setting up a FOSIS scholarship fund to support exceptional Muslim students aspiring to go to University.

Freedom of Expression The Freedom of Expression campaign was built in the backdrop of speaker-bans that Isocs have been facing over the last two years. More than ever, Isocs are being challenged for invited speakers' rights to speak on campus. We have been developing a toolkit to arm Isocs with suitable arguments to use in their defence if they face a speaker challenge or indeed, feel unsure about how to respond to a speaker coming onto campus. We are also developing guidelines to issue to Vice Chancellors and Students' Unions, as well as speaker briefings which aim to lay down the facts concerning accusations of extremism faced by speakers. Progress on this front has been slow due to a shortage of human resources, but it really needs to be made a priority with an aim for completion by September 2011. Furthermore, we have continued to deal with individual cases of speakers being challenged in which the President and Head of Media have also been involved, and which has involved advising local Isocs as well as contacting and advising University and Union management. It is also worth noting that we consulted Universities UK (UUK) back in August on the guidelines they were producing for Universities on freedom of speech and academic freedom. This report has now been released and its conclusions were largely positive for Isocs, but we must ensure that Isocs are being consulted on a local level if their institutions are seeking to review their guidelines.

Radical Thinking Conference In March, FOSIS in conjunction with UCL Isoc held the first event of its kind; the Radical Thinking Conference. One year on from the alleged UCL-Detroit-Bomber incident, a Conference held to explore discourses surrounding extremism on campus, narrate grassroots experiences and develop policy from it bringing together experts, the sector and students. This Conference was perhaps one of my highlights of the year; the high calibre of speakers on our panels combined with the intense and productive discussions that followed at the Conference itself resulted in a well-attended and overall successful event alhamdulilah. Moving forward we must build on this- its only the first step of many more to come inshaAllah. Finally, special thanks are due to UCL Isoc who ensured the smooth running of the Conference in a professional and efficient manner.

Civil Liberties Since my last report to Council, alhamdulilah we have seen some progress on our Schedule 7 campaign, under the direction of Br Zin Derfoufi. Following a number of Freedom of Information requests made by FOSIS to the Home Office, we obtained a range of data which managed to generate some media attention, particularly via the Guardian. The campaign is increasingly gaining support and momentum with a range of organisations and MPs onboard and we hope it continues to grow in strength.

SAC resources Amidst all the politics, steps are being taken within SAC to ensure that we build on our bank of resources rather than allow them to get lost in a sea of emails. This is particularly important for consistency and continuity of our work. Some progress has been made on this over the past year but it is still in its early stages, with more focus needed on institutionalising these practices.

To conclude: this year has been a journey in many ways, and I thank Allah swt for the opportunity and the lessons Ive learnt. I sincerely request that you forgive me for my shortcomings, for I know there have been many.

JazakumAllahu khairan

Wa'alaikum assalaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu

Alaa' Al-Samarrai vp.studentaffairs@FOSIS.org.uk

Head of Communications- Fathima Shah

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmathullahi wa barakatuhu First and foremost I start by praising Allah (SWT) and send peace and blessings upon His final messenger Muhammed (SAW). I thank my Lord for me giving me the opportunity to play a small part in this big world of Islamic societies and FOSIS for His sake. Earlier this year in February I was co-opted to take on the role as Head of Communications for the federation. Taking over such a responsibility halfway through the year and filling in the massive shoes of my predecessors - sr Amal Saffour and sr Nada Mansy - was so small feat. Although I was involved in other FOSIS committees prior to this, joining the world of the NEC has been an exciting yet humbling experience. The role of the Head of Communications is not as black and white as you would expect, with its expectations and responsibilities fluctuating throughout the year. The job description has changed over recent years and I believe there needs to be a clearer description of its role and responsibilities for the incoming head for 2011-12. Please note that this report reflects the role of the Head of Communications only for the latter part of the year. My role has revolved around the following tasks: NEC Admin: involved sending out reminders for various deadlines and forwarding on NEC information to relevant committees within FOSIS. This also involved arranging NEC meetings, typing up minutes and uploading monthly NEC blogs. I would recommend reducing the number of NEC blogs to ensure they are consistently produced. Alternatively, the blogs could be uploaded directly by NEC members onto the website as and when they deem necessary. This role also required forming a database for Team FOSIS members, which unfortunately I was unable to fulfill due to lack of time. FOSIS domain Management: Managing e-group requests and FOSIS Emails is a regular part of the job. This has been carried out easily and successfully. Project Management System: better known as ProMS, is a three stage process devised by the Training and Human Resources (THR) committee. My role involved collating evaluations from various groups and ensuring the ProMS were completed in a timely manner. I would suggest that the deadlines for the various stages for the ProMS be set out from the beginning of the year to give committees the opportunity to plan ahead. Communications Team: This team- I believe- forms the backbone of FOSIS, and mainly consists of the general secretaries and communications officers from FOSIS committees. Others members also include brothers and sisters who work on the website, finance and marketing aspects of FOSIS. The communications e- group is used regularly to send out important information to committees and regional Isocs. This communications team has helped ensure we meet our deadlines and reach our

targets. JazakAllah khair to all the amazing FOSIS Gen Secs: sisters, your hard work and sheer determination is much appreciated. Despite other commitments and responsibilities, I have always been able to rely on the Gen Secs to help us out when need be. Staff Committee: This is a newly formed committee which includes FOSIS full time officers who are in charge of Fundraising and Marketing for the federation. My role involves assisting the staff via emails, creating new accounts and general assistance when requested. Team FOSIS: communication with Team FOSIS has involved sending out the monthly FOSIS Newsletters. The newsletters have been sent out regularly to Isocs as well as shared online through though the FOSIS website and Facebook. These were produced by br Rehan (Marketing Officer) with assistance from sr Shaheena (London Gen Sec). Team FOSIS would also be informed about any upcoming national FOSIS events or projects from time to time. External communication: This includes forwarding information from external organisations to relevant members of the NEC depending on the nature of the information. Annual Council Meeting: This involves updating and managing the FOSIS constitution and its constitutional and non-constitutional amendments. One of the responsibilities is to ensure that information regarding the ACM and elections is sent out to Isocs and Team FOSIS in a timely manner. My recommendation for the future is to form a calendar and input the tasks that are done on an annual basis by the Head of Communications. This will ensure consistency and maintain professionalism within the federation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Team FOSIS for their support, advice and dedication. I have had the opportunity to witness the amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes from the NEC right down to the regions these past months. There are some truly incredible sisters and brothers in this federation, who I pray will go on and work for the greater good of this Ummah and our deen. JazakAllah khair to the NEC members for making my time within the team quite exciting even if they did drive me a little insane when it came to deadlines! And last but not least a very special thank you to sr Amal for her patience and kind support from the beginning. May Allah (SWT) protect and guide this generation the future Ummah - in making a small but significant difference in this world. May He bless us with good health, strong Imaan and peace.

"Our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower." (2:127)

Head of Finance- Obada Sawalha

Introduction
All praise is to Allah SWT, we thank Him, we seek His help, His forgiveness and His guidance. In this report I will briefly go through the most important projects and (committee balances) that the Finance Committee was involved in since June 2010, and present a few notes on matters of importance.

Projects
This section examines all the projects which pass through the Finance Committee and the office. Some regional activities do not pass though this route and are therefore not present in this report. Steps have been taken to ensure coordination; and all 6 UK regions now maintain most of their income and expenditure through the office. The remaining region (Ireland) operates its own bank account only because it is a separate country with different legal considerations.

ISOC 101
Carried out by ISCC from September through to November the project was sponsored entirely by MCF to a maximum of 2,150. Sr Saira, the ISCC Finance officer, and the person liaising with MCF in this regard has also obtained a pledge from them for continued support for the project in the future inshaallah. The project file is not yet closed as we wait for the remainder of the sponsorship to be paid in, at time of going to print the project finances were as below. Item Sponsorship Expenditure Total Expenses 1,409.20 1,409.20 709.44 - 699.76 Income 709.44 Balance

The Finance CDs and Guide (prepared last year by Sr Saira) were present yet again this year in the project, in a continued effort to increase Isoc financial professionalism.

FAC 2010
The turnout to FAC 2010 in London was not amazing, poor in fact, when compared to the previous years FAC in Birmingham. This impacted on income from ticket sales and meant that overall the project made a loss. That said the loss was very small in comparison with previous FAC losses. Item Income Sponsorship Expenses Income 1,499.29 2,950.00 Balance

Expenditure Total

4,671.00 4,671.00 4,449.29 - 221.71

Freshers Packs
Freshers packs this year were done in coordination with UKIsoc (formerly LondonIsoc). The terms of the agreement allowed UKIsoc to obtain charity exclusivity and limited FOSIS and FOSIS Sponsor insertions into the packs to two. These terms meant that FOSIS was unable to obtain any sponsorship for Freshers Packs this year, so all expenses for the project are therefore a loss. Item Sponsorship from 2009 Sponsorship Contribution to UKIsoc Poster costs Delivery Expenditure Total Expenses Income 500.00 0.00 Balance

2,500.00 1,625.00 1,872.29 5,997.29 500.00 - 5,497.29

There is 1,000 owed to FOSIS by sponsors since 2009, 500 of it was paid this year, however another 500 remains to be paid and is being chased up.

Training and HR account

The THR committee has conducted training events and covered costs of committees for training to a total expenditure of 540. Due to the committees internal nature, income is usually acquired for the committee and not individual projects. Item Opening balance Sponsorship Expenditure Total Expenses Income 592.73 540.00 540.00 600.00 396.29 Balance 343.56

SAC account
The SAC committee ended the last year in the red. This had not appeared in the FAC 10 finance report as payments relating to the 09/10 year were processed after the report was sent to print. The committee finances are shown below including 798.45 of costs incurred due to participation in NUS conference. Item Opening balance Sponsorship Expenditure Total Expenses Income 1,976.30 1,168.65 1,168.65 1,976.30 0.00 Balance - 807.65

Services projects
The Services committee started with a positive balance, and this was spent almost entirely on the Autumn speakers tour. Sponsorship for the Spring tour fell through at the last minute and the matter was referred onto the NEC to determine the fate of the project. The NEC gave the project the go ahead on the condition that the Pound Pledges would be put forward at all the events relating to the tour in order to cover as much of the costs as possible through the Pound Pledge fund (discussed below). Fundraising events were also to be conducted with the international speakers. Item Opening balance Sponsorship Autumn Tour Expenses Spring Tour Expenses Donations From Pound Pledges Other Expenses Total Expenses Income 0.00 3,565.29 8,357.44 1,597.46 1,014.00 253.10 12,175.83 2,611.46 -5,852.81 Balance 3,711.56

The South committee conducted a collection at a mosque which raised the 1,597.46 in donations, and the Pound Pledge fund return for the project from the filled out forms was 1,014 of which the Midlands committee got the most Pound Pledges signed. Br Omar Ali also coordinated a fundraising dinner with iEra in which the FOSIS share of the pledges was 10,000. This has not yet come in (hence not included in the calculation) and due to the nature of pledges it is expected that not all of it will come though, and the part that does will take a few months.

ISCC projects
The major setback for ISCC this year was the President Gift Packs project which was rather costly but didnt have much sponsorship. ISCC had been expecting 10,000 in sponsorship as part of a deal from the previous year, however this fell through due to the inability of FOSIS to deliver. Item Opening balance President Gift Packs NSQC Sponsorship Expenditure Total Expenses 1,830.29 72.36 674.94 2,577.59 1,185.00 182.41 Income 150.00 200.00 835.00 Balance 1,575.00

Winter Conference
The Winter Conference of 2010 was the first one in a long time to not return a loss. This further proves that the return to a Conference event as opposed to a Council event since 2009 makes the event more financially viable. Item Opening balance Sales Expenditure Total Expenses Income 455.39 423.61 423.61 455.39 31.78 Balance 0.00

Regions
Region London Midlands North Scotland South Wales Opening -422.50 0.00 8.18 0.00 0.00 711.12 Expenses 0.00 78.20 255.00 1,300.00 566.28 837.28 Income 422.50 471.00 266.82 850.00 626.90 811.01 Balance 0.00 392.80 50.00 -450.00 60.62 684.85

The South, Midlands and North regions utilised the Pound Pledge fund to obtain some income for the region, Wales and the Midlands regions had forms filled out during the speakers tours, the income for which was directed towards the services debt as per the NEC condition. There are a number of other committee accounts that did not conduct projects this year, and remain positive; these accounts along with the Reserve account ensure that the organisation as a whole is not in debt.

Reserve Account and Project Debts

In January 2010 the NEC took a decision to name a Reserve Account with a target size of 10,000. The idea being that once clear of debts, the organisation is still in danger of falling in debt again very easily. FOSIS has also had instances where project debts have placed us in a position where we have to seek loans to ensure project expenses are paid. The aim of this reserve account was to ensure that FOSIS always has money in its account to ensure that any project or committee debts do not leave the organisation as a whole in a position where it is in need of 3rd party loans to operate. It was decided that unless the reserve account was full, the organisation would function in a state of emergency as though it were in debt. The reserve account currently stands at 4,012.98 which is exactly the same as it was at the summer council of 2010. This means we are still 5,987.02 short of the 10k target.

The reason that the reserve account has not increased towards the target is because of the internal debts that arose from the projects listed above. Surplus money was directed at paying off these debts rather than increasing the reserve account balance. It is important to note that FAC 2009 and Freshers Packs 2008 and 2009 were a major source of income for the organisation that was used to pay off debts.

Debts
The 221.71 debt of FAC 2010 was paid off. 4,400.68 was paid off from the Freshers Packs debts bringing the outstanding project debt down to 676.61. 500 of this is owed to FOSIS in sponsorship, once this comes through the debt will be 176.61. The remaining debt is that of services at -5,852.81, we expect that most of this will be paid for with the pledges from the Fundraising Dinner conducted with the Spring Tour project speakers, but will take some time. Note: FOSIS as an organisation is not back in debt.

Pound Pledges Fund

As part of a vision to invest in a steady income for FOSIS in the future, the Finance Committee set aside 2,000 for investing in increasing the number of monthly Pound Pledges (PP) for FOSIS. To provide an incentive for the grass-roots to plug the project, it was decided that the committee that provides the PP is given 6 months worth of the PP upfront. Simultaneously, in consultation with regional finance officers, regions were given a target number of Pound Pledges to get done for the end of the year. The Midlands, the North, the South and Wales had forms sent to the Office, of which only the Midlands and the South met the target. The two committees that did meet the target achieved almost 10 times the target. This proves that regions have the capability to push the Pound Pledge project much better than had been anticipated. Due to this endeavour the pound pledges this year have more than doubled with 375 a month coming in from this years Pledges alone. At time of going to print over 60% of the money given to regions has come back through the Pledges, with none of the Pledges completing the first 6 months as of yet. A large number of forms fail to get processed due to number of reasons including incomplete forms or the bank declining the form for other reasons. A direct debit scheme as opposed to the standing orders currently used can help boost the efficiency. Br Ameen the Fundraising Officer has been working on a revamp of the Pound Pledge project. The next NEC is advised to keep this fund as it increases the number of forms filled in by giving regions the incentive to do so while also providing a source of income for regions.

Full Time Officers

FOSIS has this year recruited two full-time officers to serve specific roles in increasing the capacity of the organisation, their roles being Fundraising Officer and Marketing Officer. Led by Br Nabil as President, Sr Nada (Head of Communications until Winter Council) and I were involved in the process of defining the roles, the interviewing process and induction on behalf of the NEC, due to the full time officers strong link to our respective roles as elected individuals. Please refer to Br Nabils section for a more details.

Head of Media- Qasim Rafiq

FOSIS appearing more prominently in the media:

Over the 2010/2011 academic year, FOSIS Media has arranged over 50 interviews involving a number of different individuals within FOSIS, and on a diverse range of topics. There has been FOSIS representation on major Muslim and non-Muslim media outlets including BBC London News, the Guardian, BBC News online, The Times Higher Education Supplement, Eastern Eye, BBC Radio 4, Islam Channel, Al-Jazeera, LCB Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC West Midlands amongst many others. This also includes major international networks such as Voice of America and RAI Italy.

Establishing key relationships:

Work in the media is always based on "who you know" and this is something we have been striving to establish. There have been positive meetings with various journalists and media outlets and is something we will continually build on inshAllah.

Press Releases:

FOSIS has issued over 30 press releases in 2010/2011 period with topics covering both national and international issues which are of concern to Muslim students and Isocs. For a list of the press releases go to http://media.FOSIS.org.uk/press-releases

Assisting Isocs and their representation in the media:

Were at the forefront in assisting UCL Islamic Society in dealing with various media requests over the past year in the aftermath of the Umar Farouk situation, which unfortunately continues to linger on. Were in close communication with York Islamic Society and many other Isocs who were faced with potential speaker bans and requests from local media as to their response to such attempts.

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu, I begin by praising Allah (swt) the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and send peace and blessings upon His last and final Messenger Muhammad (saw). This year has seen a huge national focus on allegations of student radicalisation, and that has naturally been reflected in much of the work the media committee has been involved in. Be it interviews, press releases, or articles, FOSIS Media were involved in much of the discussion and we wanted to make it absolutely clear that any allegations of radicalisation on campus must be dealt with in a responsible, mature and evidence-based approach. Yet that was us simply "reacting" to the situation - an important aspect of our work; but what is it that we could actually do to provide a constructive input to the discussion? With that in mind, SAC, Media, ISCC and the President himself jointly assisted in the organisation of the "Radical Thinking Conference". This event - the first of its kind - brought together the key stakeholders, security experts and academics to actually discuss this issue in a constructive manner. It was time for FOSIS to actively take part in this discussion and bring some much needed perspective to the discussion, and we believe from the overwhelmingly positive feedback to the event that we achieved this aim alhamdulillah. Now we need to build on this momentum and continue to progress! Over the past year we also saw the release of two key reports - the Caldicott and Universities UK reports - which will shape much of the discourse surrounding student radicalisation. The outcome of the Caldicott Enquiry - set up to investigate Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's time at UCL - was resounding in its conclusion: "there is no evidence to suggest either that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalised while a student at UCL or that conditions at UCL during that time or subsequently are conducive to the radicalisation of students". I was amongst those who were interviewed by the panel as I was with Umar Farouk throughout his duration at UCL and was President of the Islamic Society before he was. I firmly agree with the conclusions of this report and challenge anyone to definitively prove that Umar Farouk was radicalised at UCL. The Universities UK report released in February this year, was resolute in its support of academic freedom. To take a line from the press release that we issued at the time, "put together by university leaders, it is rigorous in its methodology, thorough in its consultation process and resolute in its support of academic freedom." Much has been made of so called "hate-speakers" on campus, yet the fact remains that not one speaker invited by any Islamic Society has been charged or convicted of any hatespeech or incitement to violence. Surely in an age where we as a society recognise and cherish the freedoms we have in the UK, we should look to uphold the principle of freedom of expression. Yet it is deeply disappointing that Muslim speakers are vilified and attempts are made to have them banned from campus. If we can't discuss, debate and engage in constructive dialogue on university campuses, where can we? This is something that FOSIS Media have sought to constantly address whenever the various issues of "speaker-bannings" arise. One of the key things that FOSIS Media has sought to develop is the media strategy for the

organisation. This comprehensive internal document aims to provide key guidance on how the organisation should respond, address and manage media-related issues. This is unique for the organisation, which only instated a media committee in 2008, and builds upon the professionalism of the organisation over the past few years. As Muslim students, Isocs and FOSIS come increasingly under the spotlight, it is vital that the organisation has an effective, robust process in which to handle media enquiries, and also look to take a proactive approach using the power of the media. This document for me is vital and I pray that the basis of this document is still in use for years to come inshAllah. In addition to the key points mentioned above, there has also been an effort to ensure that we continue to provide assistance and advice to Islamic Societies who are often approached by the media. To that end we have assisted university Isocs across the country including, UCL, Portsmouth, City, York, Edinburgh Napier, Imperial and LSE to name but a few. This has often involved discussions over the phone, interview practice, advice on key issues etc, and I believe this is something that FOSIS Media should always look to focus on. Moreover, in conjunction with FOSIS London, FOSIS Media held a media workshop which had over 30 attendees from across the country, with particular emphasis on practical participation as opposed to pure media theory. The practical sessions included live interviews with a professional journalist which were recorded and feedback provided. It also included a team preparing a press release for a particular scenario as well as electing one individual to take part in a live Question Time panel. Whilst the event received positive feedback, we are always looking to improve the quality of the training that is provided and ideas are already floating about as to what to include in the next media workshop. Finally, the staple item of any media committee will always be press releases, interviews, articles and contact with journalists. With this year featuring many topical issues relating to and affecting Muslim students, there has been no shortage of media appearances, organisational press releases, articles and meetings or telephone conversations with journalists. As I write this report, I'm also currently preparing to do an interview with the Eastern Eye and have spoken this morning to an individual from BBC London News, so there's never any shortage of work to be done. We've had interviews ranging on a number of issues such as FOSIS's Artistic Jihad initiative, higher education tuition fees, student radicalisation, Pastor Terry Jones' Quran burning amongst many other topics! I always find it difficult trying to summarise everything that FOSIS Media has done into one end of year report, but I thought the best way would be to give a brief summary of some of the key work we've been involved in: Whilst there are always ups and downs when dealing with the media, the one thing you never forget is the phenomenal amount of work Islamic Societies do, right from those in Portsmouth to those in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin! And I always attempt to highlight this in any of the interviews I partake in which are discussing Islamic Societies and the work they do. As an organisation, as a committee and as an individual, there will always be shortcomings in what we do, but I pray to Allah that He accepts the work that has been done and ask for your duas and forgiveness for any shortcomings. Just as I began, I conclude by praising Allah (swt) who has made all of this possible, and with Who's infinite Mercy this work will continue. Wassalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.

Head of Services- Hammad Parwaiz

Introduction The services committee has had a very busy year, Alhamdulillah, and here is a summary of what weve been up to. To start with, here is a re-cap of the aims and objectives we set ourselves at the beginning of the year: 1. Ensure Services work is demand-led especially in Islamic Awareness and Speakers Tours. 2. Ensure Services projects are of the highest-quality, organised and delivered with excellence and professionalism. 3. Ensure that, in addition to the core activities, Services seeks to deliver creative, dynamic and innovative projects. 4. Empower, strengthen and support smaller/weaker Isocs; make them feel they are part of their regions; meet their needs by providing resources etc. (through Islamic Awareness and Speakers Tours). 5. Ensure Services advances Inter-faith work by Isocs and regional work. 6. To deliver a variety of effective Dawah projects across Isocs in the UK, including training Muslims in delivering dawah and aiding Isocs to run dawah events.

Above: Some posters from our events from the first term

Above: Dawah Training in Bristol Isoc with Yusha Evans

Achievements We kick-started the year with a webinar with Dr Asad Khan, organized by the outgoing committee, addressing the topic of Making Ramadan Productive Over the year we hosted several speaker tours, concentrated around the freshers week and IAW time periods, as this is when demand was highest. Some of the speakers included Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam, Shaykhs Faraz Rabanni, Jamal Badawi, Shady Al-Sulaiman and Idris Tawfiq, amongst others. Our aim was to try and reach as many Isocs as possible, and this formed the basis of how we allocated speakers to Isocs over the year. We also hosted 3 other webinars with Quran for Busy People, run by Br Mamoon Yusaf (a life coach), helping people get closer to the Quran. During IAW we had around 6 main speaker tours, and Alhamdulillah, we managed to reach some Isocs in every region. Around the same time we organized some dawah training for Isocs through IERA, as well as through Br Yusha Evans. Earlier on in the year we had dawah training delivered by Br Nasser Karimian. Finally, the year ended with a book launch in partnership with a group called Murabbi Consulting. We attracted over 200 students, academics and members of the public to this event, which was about The Leadership of Muhammad (pbuh), a book written by the world renowned John Adair.

Challenges
To deliver speakers to all Isocs To fulfill speaker requests given to us by Isocs To deliver high quality, professional speakers tours without being able to be present on the ground in most instances To organise and deliver all the events with limited manpower Arranging IERA dawah training and talksour dawah committee changed throughout the year as people stepped down, and finding replacements was difficult, which caused problems when trying to arrange IERA events Creating a team/committee atmosphere when everything is done electronically

Recommendations

To recruit fewer but more dedicated members to the committee, perhaps by creating specific roles in the committee rather than just general committee positions To plan freshers week and IAW speakers tours months in advance so that there is plenty of time to plan and publicise as well as having a greater chance of being able to host the big speakers Continue to try and organise new and innovative events, whilst making sure the core services are delivered Have one face-to-face services committee meeting every term, in order to focus efforts and to enhance team atmosphere Make more use of UK-based speakers Ensure each regional services rep organises at least one speakers tour for their region with a local/UK-based speaker during the year Have one point of contact for all IERA related communication and build a strong dawah subcommittee at the beginning of the year

Above: Some posters from events in the second term

Conclusion Being on the services committee has been thoroughly enjoyable, and a truly memorable experience. Ive had the opportunity to work with some amazing people, both within the NEC and Team FOSIS at large, and have benefitted greatly from the opportunity to interact with scholars and speakers. There have been several shortcomings in what we have done, and I pray that we can learn from these and set even higher standards next year. I wish the incoming committee all the best for the forthcoming year.

Above: Images from the Path to Guidance event held at Greenwich University in partnership with IERA. (Clockwise from top left) Shaykh Abdur Raheem Green, Hamza Tzortzis, Yusha Evans, Abu Hafsa Abdul Malik Clare.

Achievements

Event

Speaker

Dates

ISOCs Visited

2010 Aug 8th Online

[Webinar] Making Ramadan Productive Oct 4th, 5th, 14th Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Cambridge

Dr Asad Khan

University: A Fresher Perspective Oct 11th, 13th, 15th

Mufti Muhammad Ibn Adam Al Kawthari

University: A Fresher Perspective Oct 18th, 19th, 20th

Shaykh Abu Muntasir

Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College Birmingham City University, Wolverhampton, UCLAN (Preston), Liverpool/LJMU Online

Heroes of Islam

Shaykh Shady Al-Suleiman

[Webinar] Quran for Busy People Oct 14th Oct 19th

Mamoon Yusaf

Oct 13th

Me, Myself and Uni

Nasser Karimian

Lancaster Leeds

[Workshop] Tafsir of Surah Fatiha Oct 20th-22nd Oct 21st

Nasser Karimian

Dawah Training

Nasser Karimian

Southampton, Sussex, Surrey, SOAS

[Workshop] The Leadership Attitude

Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) - the Prophet for all

Shaykh Ahmed Saad

Dec 9th

Exeter

times Dec 20th Online

[Webinar] Quran for Busy People

Mamoon Yusaf

2011 Jan 29th-Feb 5th Bristol, Swansea, Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Warwick, Brighton, Sussex Cambridge, Nottingham, Birmingham City Universty, Wolverhampton NUIG (Galway), IT Blanchardstown, UCD (Dublin), TCD (Dublin), Cambridge, York, Sheffield Hallam, Leicester, Brunel, Dundee, Aberdeen, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Reading, Portsmouth, Sussex Imperial College, Royal Hollaway, Cambridge, Nottingham, Reading, Exeter, Plymouth, Southampton, Cardiff, Lincoln, Leeds, Liverpool Cardiff, Brunel, Exeter, Manchester Feb 16th York

[IAW] The Quest for Truth

Yusha Evans

[IAW] The Call of Duty

Shaykh Faraz Rabanni

Jan 31st-Feb 3rd

[IAW] Blind Eyes Not Heart

Abu Hafsa Abdul Malik Clare

Feb 7th- 25th

[IAW] From the Vatican to Al Azhar

Shaykh Idris Tawfiq

Feb 8th-25th

[IAW]

Shaykh Jamal Badawi

[IAW] Misconceptions About Islam Feb 7th-Mar 3rd

Mufti Muhammad Ibn Adam Al Kawthari

[IAW] The Purpose of Life

Adam Deen

Nottingham Trent, UCL, Bristol, Lancaster, Portsmouth, London South Bank Uni, Liverpool, Sheffield, Surrey, Manchester Metropolitan Uni, Kent Online

[Webinar] Quran for Busy People

Mamoon Yusaf

Feb 20th

The Path of Guidance: FOSIS and IERA Fundraiser Greenwich University

Shaykh Abdur Raheem Green, Hamza Tzortzis, Abu Hafsa, Yusha Evans February Cardiff, Southampton, Roehampton & Kingston

Feb 26th

IERA Dawah Training

Shaykh Abdur Raheem Green, Hamza Tzortzis, Saleem Chagtai February Various Isocs

IERA IAW Talks

Hamza Tzortzis, Saleem Chagtai March 2nd Imperial College

[Book Launch] The Leadership of Muhammad (pbuh)

John Adair

Head of Campaigns- Abdulrahman Alhadithi

Alhamdulillah, another year on the path of reviving the Campaigns Committee and bringing it back on its feet. The aim this year was to focus the majority of the attention on the bigger projects, remits and putting a recruitment strategy together in order to keep the committee self sustainable inshaAllah. Charity Week 1. Alhamdulillah further growth within CW in the existing 5 regions 2. Established CW in the South region for the first time ever 3. Number of ISOCs taking part in CW this year increased to over 65, from just over 30 in the previous year. Community Project 1. Had Eid/Ramadhan Flash mob events across the country and Alhamdulillah the results were fantastic. 2. Drawing plans for a large FCP campaign to start off in the new academic year, whereby Community projects are run throughout the year under several different themes Community Service Awards 1. Plans are complete 2. Been working on funding and partner organisations, 3. The scheme shall be up and running inshaAllah in the new academic year

International Affairs 1. Srebrenica a. One of the very successful campaigns this year was the Srebrenica Memorial day, b. Our focus was mainly to raise awareness of the atrocities that were committed at the expense of the Srebrenicans just over 10 years ago c. The issue was tackled through viral marketing campaigns, posting on facebook, youtube and twitter throughout the Memorial Day. 2. Libya Campaign a. Libya Campaign began during the same time as the western intervention in Libya b. The campaign aimed to push Isocs to support charity projects running up and down the country in support of our Libyan brothers and sisters

c. To have Qiyam-ul-layl prayers at your Isocs d. To have Juma sermons on the crisis taking place in Libya and aiming to raise money to support the Libyans. e. This campaign was done in collaboration with Islamic Relief 3. Islamophobia a. Been part of a panel that initiated a coalition (Enough Coalition) tackling Islamophobia b. A conference has been organised in London on the 21st of May to talk about how to effectively tackle the issue and how to be proactive about it c. Speakers included our very own president, Nabil Ahmed

Alhamdulillah a strong foundation has been built for the committee now and the focus in the coming years should be on project execution and recruitment.

Head of Members Relations- Salman Waqar

Achievements - Fresher Packs: assembled and delivered 15,000 packs across the UK and Ireland. - Winter Conference (WC): held in Cambridge and generated a small profit, highly positive feedback from over 100 attendees. - Artistic Jihad: organised and delivered from conception, 150 attendees at launch night and growing media and community interest. Addressed Muslim students weve not worked with before. - FOSIS Annual Conference (FAC): re-introduced a 3-day programme following 2 years of single day events. Areas to Improve - Fresher packs: poor quality and lack of diversity. Some arrived late and in insufficient amounts. Had to take on project from previous Head MR, lack of continuity and ability to influence project. - Fundraising and budgeting: costs for sponsorship were initially too prohibitive, need to produce more realistic budgets. - Marketing: lack of grassroots awareness of conferences, need Isocs and FOSIS regions to take a proactive role in promotion. Failed to get video coverage at WC, a real shame! - Logistics: difficulty securing venues and organising transport from FOSIS regions to conferences. Recommendations - Fresher Packs: Consider charging Isocs, at least for delivery. Need to address issue of Isocs ordering more packs than needed. Consider handing project over to FOSIS staff members to ensure continuity and give due attention. - Artistic Jihad: to continue and expand for next year, work with partners in the community to seek advice and how to improve. - Sponsorship: make proposals/budgets which ask for small amounts from a large number of donors. Allocate more to subsidise transport from regions. - Conferences: organisation of WC/FAC needs a small but dedicated team (4-5 people), not necessarily a committee with traditional roles as with other FOSIS areas of work. - Planning: set venue, date, confirm speakers and produce initial publicity for WC/FAC 6months/year in advance to ensure quality events.

FOSIS London- Asif Hussain

This report is neither exciting nor fun. But then, it is a report. What we did: Along with FOSIS national, organised and oversaw London wide speaker tours of: Sh Idris Tawfique, br Abu Hafsa amongst others. Many Isocs benefited from this during their IAWs. Organised iERA dawah training seminars for Isocs in preparation for IAWs. Visited newly formed Isocs and provided help and advice.

Always responded to queries for help and advice from all Isocs that contacted us with a variety and multitude of problems. Organised a book launch with Prof John Adair, who wrote a book detailing the fantastic leadership qualities of our Prophet (saw), held at Imperial College in conjunction with the Isoc there, which did a great job and deserves a special mention, with over 200 people in attendance. Organised alongside FOSIS national members, and UCL Isoc, a national conference held at UCL on freedom of expression and radical thinking. This event brought together a vast array of high profile and credible voices on the topic, to discuss and debate with government officials what policy should be on radical thinking on campuses. This was in front of an audience of approx 120 people from around the country and received national media attention. Organising the regional finals of the National Student Qiraat Competition.

What we did not do/things to improve: Visit personally every Isoc in London, to find out where FOSIS could help and be of service- or reach out to all Isocs, some are still on the fringes of the wider Isoc and FOSIS community. Provide many opportunities for different Isocs to come together and share best practices and to feel united in London. Provide a strong leadership and stance on the affairs that happened throughout the world, and are happening, to Isocs. We did try, but it could have been better if we had coordinated more. This could have been as a result of not having time to get up to speed with the job.

FOSIS Midlands- Hamid Ghazi

Alhamdulillah. It was a privilege to be a part of one brilliant team amongst all the other brilliant teams in every region that make FOSIS what it is today. We had a busy year filled with plenty of events and activities Alhamdulillah. Our objectives this year were encompassed in reaching out to Isocs to provide help and support as well as to help facilitate events and activities with Isocs in the region.

Achievements Our main achievement was to establish a rapport with many Isocs across the region, both big and small. This was principally down to the efforts of our future (11/12) Chair and Vice-sister as well as other members of the team. MashaAllah through their efforts many Isocs received a lifeline as well as support for their activism throughout the year.

Figure 1 - Mt. Snowdon peak, But what goes up must come down!

Some of our other achievements included our National Student Qiraat Competition which took place at Birmingham University and was our last large event. We hope to find our regions winning brothers and sisters pushing for positions at the finals inshaAllah! Another achievement which is close to my heart was the creation of a new Isoc at Gloucester University which, I hope and pray matures into an Isoc with strong foundations and great events in the near future inshaAllah.

Recommendations As always, improvements can always be made and I know the new Midlands team is rearing to get started with the new academic year inshaAllah. To set the foundations we have made with Isocs this year, I would recommend the brothers and sisters continue to push in this regard to allow the relationships to mature. This will allow collaborations to work more efficiently and smoothly. The next recommendation would be for the new team to collaborate further with external organisations. This would open up our horizons to have larger and more successful events inshaAllah.

Figure 2 - A healthy diet is not part of the ISOC 101 curriculum!

One further recommendation would be for the team to become more financially established. MashaAllah, many pound pledges were filled in which should lead to more funding for the region. Lobbying of the NEC for funds is a must! But of course, good planning is of more importance.

Conclusions To conclude, I would firstly like to thank all the brothers and sisters in the Midlands team for all their hard work. I know that I have only witnessed a fraction of their efforts, but the One who has the knowledge of every single struggle they have faced will reward them the best of rewards, inshaAllah. I would like to sincerely apologise with all my heart for my shortcomings. I believe that the team could have achieved much, much more with a leader who could rise to their high standards, but unfortunately I fell short in this regard and only have mistakes to learn from and a Lord to seek forgiveness from. I ask the brothers and sisters to also find mercy in their hearts to spare for me. BarakAllahufeekum. Working for FOSIS or any Islamic student movement requires self-belief and determination, something which is not possible without much soul-searching. My last piece of advice to those who will take on the reigns soon inshaAllah would be to be true to themselves and to their Lord and to strive hard in His way. Once this divine link has been established and maintained, only good will come of it, inshaAllah. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatahu,

FOSIS North- Fayez Almari

In the name of Allah the most Gracious most Merciful Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatuh I would like to begin my report by thanking Allah for giving me this opportunity to serve Him, and serve the Muslim Ummah. I ask Allah that He may forgive me for my many shortcomings, and that they arent used against me on the Last Day. Secondly, I would like to thank my committee and the ISOCs of the North for putting up with me this year, and for providing me with support in moments of need. Now for the juicy bits After a slow start during the summer months, FN upped its game and delivered in what was a very stressful period for Isocers. In my role of chair, I was busy trying to contact Isocs of the North, making sure they had the support they needed, getting affiliations and co-ordinating fresher packs. It has to be said, it wasn't easy, but alhamdulillah, with the help of my committee, and after many phone calls and negotiating hurdles, all 20 Isocs received their packs in time for freshers fairs. During October, I attended MMU Isocs's Fresher's Dinner, and masha'Allah, it showed the importance of the work Isocs do. It was also pleasing to see how FOSIS's help with delivering packs paid off. I also attended the Liverpool Uni and LJMU Isoc welcome dinner, and I have to say, was very impressed with the professionalism. Finally, I attended my own Isocs welcome dinner (Lancaster), where we had a visit from br Nasir Karimian (Canada) and the FOSIS president, Nabil Ahmed. Next up was ISOC 101. To make things easier for you, we held two events this year; one in Preston (UCLAN ISOC) on 16th Oct, and the other in Middlesbrough (Teesside Isoc) in February. These were two new venues for FOSIS events, and we hope this cements our aim in reaching out to smaller, less established ISOC. Both events went really well. The first was attended by approximately 40 people from primarily NW and Yorkshire Isocs. The feedback was encouraging, and the prompt start and finish were well received. The second event was attended by around 25 people mainly from the NE, as well as York and Hull Isocs. This was the first time FOSIS had held an event so close to the NE Isocs and it seemed they were happy with the new direction the regional committee was taking. After ISOC 101 came Charity Week in late October/ early November. All in all, 11 Isocs took part raising 66,000 across the region. This total was to be celebrated in our annual CW dinner, but unfortunately the dinner had to be cancelled as the freezing weather sweeping across the UK at the time rendered holding the event impossible. We tried reorganising the dinner for a date in the New Year, however, we were unable to find a suitable date that all Isocs agreed on. It was very disappointing that we were not able to bring everyone together to celebrate raising money for such a noble cause, and we appreciate your understanding of the reason it didnt go ahead.

February and March proved to be very busy for all the Isocs in the region as preparations for IAW/DIWs were well and truly on their way. During this time, we were liaising between Isocs and the FOSIS Services committee trying to provide as many speakers to as many of our Isocs as possible. We had speaker tours for Adam Deen, Mufti Ibn Adam, Abu Hafsa, Idris Tawfiq, and Jamal Badawi to name a few. We faced a few problems during this period in terms of getting speakers to where they needed to be, and then onto their next destination, but Alhamdulillah, we managed to get by. There were also some problems at certain universities in relation to some of the speakers, but Alhamdulillah, with the aid of Allah, and help from SAC we were able to resolve these issues. The North Student Qiraat Competition was held in April in Sheffield, and saw an improvement in participants from last year. The quality was high and the judges were impressed. 6 students will represent the North in the NSQC finals at FAC in June inshAllah. Finally, I would like to apologise on behalf of the North committee for our shortcomings, including the lack of events, co-ordination and contact with Isocs this year. I had a vision of where FOSIS North should be by the end of the year, but unfortunately, I have failed to realise it. As chair, I will not shy away from blame and take full responsibility for these mistakes. I hope that you hold me accountable, but that you also find it in your hearts to forgive me, and that you pray for me when I am held accountable for my actions on the Day of Judgement. Jazakum Allah Khair Fayez Almari

FOSIS Scotland- Arafat Mullah

Achievements:
Met all Isocs during the year Helped start up a new Isoc (West of Scotland Uni) Hosted 2 training days instead of 1 for Isoc 101 Supported speaker tours Hosted Dawah training in Caledonian University Hosted InterIsoc football event in Glasgow Held AGM and golf event in St Andrews Supporting individuals with issues

SOUTH CHAIR - OMAR ALI

Achievements - All active ISOCs affiliated - Held 2 ISOC101s

Failures

- Visited all ISOCs except 3, total of 26 meetings and visits

Fresher packs too late and insufficient - Set up ISOC at Southampton Solent Miscommunication with Isocs - Held Charity Week across South for first time raising around Unsatisfactory time to visit places, Chair was only free on weekends, but Isocs could only meet on 20,000.00 weekdays. - Raised more than 10,000.00 in collections, direct debits and Unsatisfactory responses to individuals problems
pledged funds for FOSIS - Funded 4 ISOCs directly with cash payments for events and IAW

Recommendations

Scotland chair needs to be in Scotland - I learnt to use Photoshop and designed most of our regional Need to have experienced Isoc members in each city who can visit and support Isocs so there is not a posters and also and handful of national designs delay. - Held ISOCCER and SisterQuest competitions Make Isoc contact more regular and clarify FOSIS role. Have a back up plan for fresher packs and their delivery. - Held 4 dawah workshops Improve communication and planning regarding speaker tours.
- Organised 44 events in the year - Networked and built working relationships with many other Islamic organisations

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatuAllahi wa barakatuh, I start by praising Allah (SWT) and then sending peace and blessings upon His messenger Muhammad (SAW), the Companions and all the righteous believers until the Day of Judgement. My name is Omar Ali and I was elected FOSIS South Chair at the end of the last academic year. It has been an absolute rollercoaster since I began my role as Chair and epic to say the least. I have never witnessed as many dedicated brothers and sisters carrying out incredible work across the UK and Ireland - especially with our wonderful committee in the South. Needless to say I love FOSIS! Fresh! September The first term of university was well underway and we successfully distributed freshers packs across the South in time for freshers week. I was truly humbled on my visits by the superb ISOCs at Brighton, Sussex and Southampton and Southampton Solent. We started off the term by teaming up with Al-Maghrib Institute and Islamic Relief to deliver a Webinar to raise as much awareness to the disaster that stuck Pakistan. Shaykh Abu Muntasir (JIMAS) visited Surrey on behalf of FOSIS to deliver a talk on "Excellence". The Opening - October! Imam Muhammad Ibn Ismail visited Portsmouth ISOCs freshers week. We had Nasser Karimian tour the South and deliver a series of dawah workshops at Southampton, Sussex and Surrey to get ISOCers prepared for a successful year of inviting to all that is good; enjoining what is right [3:104]. We also hosted two ISOC 101workshops held at Surrey and Exeter. A time for the Needy November From the 1st November 7th November we held Charity Week for the first time across the South with one mission; to raise as much money as we could and therefore to "feed, for the love of Allah, the poor, the orphan" [76:8]. The week was amazing and raised almost 20,000! Below is one of the articles written on the success of Sussex and Brighton ISOCs' Charity Week:

We also organized two ISOC competitions, to make sure everyone was still on their toes after an epic Charity Week: the SisterQuest and ISOCCER tournament. Surrey ISOC came out victorious with Sussex in second place and Portsmouth in third.

At the end of the month we held the FOSIS South Inaugural Charity Week and ISOC Awards Dinner at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Brighton. The turnout was brilliant and the evenings line up included Hamza Tzortzis and Imam Muhammad Ibn Ismail. All in all, the evening was spectacular and was certainly one of the highlights of 2010 with even more money raised on the night!

Winter Spirit - December We rolled out a deeply spiritual Saviours of Islamic Spirit tour to Southampton, Portsmouth, Sussex and Brighton with Mufti Abudurahman Ibn Yusuf, who took us through some of the giants of Islamic

history such as Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Omar Bin Abdul-Aziz and Imam Ghazali. We also funded Adnan Rashid to speak at Portmouth on the Jesus: God or Prophet? We finished the first academic term with a funded trip to Cambridge for the FOSIS Winter Conference. Discover Islam, the Blueprints January After the turn of the New Year the South committee set about the momentous task of travelling to ISOCs for Discover Islam Week preparation meetings and the organisation of speaker tours. I visited Sussex, Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Reading and Kent numerous times. I had built a strong relationship and Al Kauthar Institute and Mercy Mission, with whom we rolled out discount courses across the country to AK seminars (for 10 instead of 60) in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham. January also saw the first ever National Executive Committee meeting take place in the South. Lights, Camera, Action! February Yusha Evans spent a weekend with Brighton and Sussex ISOCs, thereafter travelling to Heathrow to meet up with Abu Hafsa to shoot some FOSIS promotional videos. From the Vatican to Al-Azhar was the title of our next tour with Idris Tawfiq which saw the ex-Catholic priest travel to Reading, Exeter, Plymouth and Southampton sharing his story of how he came to embrace this beautiful religion of Islam. Our first iERA dawah workshop also took place at the University of Southampton with Abdur Raheem Green delivering the course. Next on stage was Abu Hafsa Abdul Malik Clares tour: Blind Eyes, Not Hearts. To say that ISOCs were excited is a complete understatement. He visited Reading, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Sussex and mashAllah, each talk only got better and better.

At the end of the Abu Hafsa tour we held a joint fundraiser event with iERA at the University of Greenwich called, The Path to Guidance with an awesome line up: Abdur Raheem Green, Hamza Tzortzis, Abu Hafsa and Yusha Evans. The event was fantastic and by the Grace and Guidance of Allah,

the event culminated with a shahada by our new brother in Islam Toby (may Allah grant him everlasting faith) and almost 20,000 pledged. We organised even more IAW events: Myriam Cerrahs tour on Women in Islam at Kent, Brighton, Southampton, Exeter, Portsmouth and Reading. Adam Deen went on to speak and debate at Kent, Portsmouth, Brighton and Southampton. Hamza Tzortzis, Imam Muhammad Ismail, Yusha Evans, and Dr Jamal Badawi all also spoke at Isocs across the South. Apart from the amazing ISOC work that has taken place we also stood up in solidarity with our brothers and sisters across the Middle East during their time of hardship. We nationally called ISOCs to collect at Jummah and had a great response. Indeed the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: The example of the Believers in their mutual love and mercy is like the example of a body. If one part feels pain, then all of it is affected by sickness and fever. [Bukhari, Muslim]. Our March to the year end At the end of March we held our AGM at Surrey and 18 brothers and sisters from 7 different ISOCs were elected on to the FOSIS South committee! That makes FOSIS South the largest committee (with roles) in all of FOSIS. Finally most recently we held our NSQC competition at Surrey. I ask Allah to accept our work, Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-knowing [2:127] Verily ALL success that has been seen this academic year is due to Allah and we have been blessed as the tools that Allah has chosen to use and all faults, mistakes and shortcomings are upon our shoulders.

FOSIS Wales & West- Mohsin Malik

Assalamu'alaykum Alhumdulillah, my term is nearly at an end, the year has already gone so quickly! It's been interesting. The year began well, we made plans, had events in mind, I met Isoc presidents and attended as many Isoc events as possible. And the first term finished with our annual dinner, which alhumdulillah was a huge success, we had a great turnout, great speeches from Ali Hammuda and Idris Tawfique, Nasheeds from Labbayk, as well as a great dinner to finish! The second term in one way was more productive- we had many speaker tours (Yusha Evans, Idris Tawfique, and Dr. Jamal Badawi), but on the other hand- I perhaps didnt show enough initiative in meeting Isoc presidents myself without them calling me to do so. For example, the speaker tours were limited to Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea. Although all Isocs have always been offered all the speakers, these were the only ones to ever get back to me. On reflection perhaps I should have made greater effort to meet the Isocs who werent as visibly active as other Isocs, and offered my assistance to help in organising events and also provide some general motivation. This was probably my biggest shortcoming this year. With regards to the FOSIS Wales and West team, alhamdulillah we had many brothers and sisters on the committee but everybody was always working on their own individual project. Although no doubt we were working as a team, but because we did not work together, perhaps that feeling of team ethic wasn't quite there. The only time I did experience us working as a team was when we had our annual dinner. A return to "team" events like we have done in previous years- e.g. we organise the da'wah training and Isoc 101s ourselves, rather than asking the Isocs to do so, would involve the committee getting together to think about the logistics of the event, and perhaps rekindle the sense of teamwork.

Other hindrances included our communication with the Isocs. Normally we have wales.Isoc@FOSIS.org.uk through which Isocs and FOSIS Wales and West can communicate with each other, and share good practise. However, this year for whatever reason this link didn't work, which hugely affected our communication. Only our gensec had access to the email addresses, so every time we had something we could forward or needed to forward from national, we'd always have to ask the Gensec, which was difficult for her as in previous years we could easily do it ourselves. So we definitely need to improve this side of things, as well as our activity on the website, facebook and twitter. Recruiting an assistant gensec who can deal with these aspects, thus making the GenSecs role easier, is a suggestion for next years committee. Other points- alhumdulillah we had many brothers and sisters with non-specific roles on the

committee. The chair, vicebrother and vicesister are quite self-explanatory, but with regards to deputy vicebrothers and vicesisters there is a slightly more ambiguity. Best thing we can do for next year is assign specific jobs for the deputies in advance- an example being the dinner in the first term, and in the second term the NQSC. Finally, our relationships with Isocs needs re-evaluating. Nationally, we have the VP Iscc on each FOSIS committee, overseeing everything- it would be great if one day something like that could be replicated and we have the Wales&West Chair on each Isoc committee..but that day is probably far away! Perhaps FOSIS' relationship isn't quite there yet with Isocs, but this would definitely be something to aspire to. This year, being an ex-Cardiff Isoc president I was still on their committee list, and always felt more up-to-date with them. Similarly, I feel I was also able to keep them up-to-date with any FOSIS events, speaker tours etc coming up, hence why they probably benefited most from FOSIS this year. This may not be possible immediately with other Isocs, but I feel we should at least revert to the system we had under sister Alaas time as chair, with a rep from each Isoc committee being the FOSIS rep and they be part of the walescommittee@FOSIS.org.uk e-group. Again something to think about for next year

Please forgive me for my shortcomings, of which there were many. Ive tried to be as honest as possible here, but am sure there are things I may have overlooked, if so please feel free to bring them up at the AGM- after all, its why we have it!

JazakAllahu Khayr

FOSIS Ireland- Omar Bhutta

I begin in the name of Allah The Most High, The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praises are due to Him, The Mast, the Creator & the King of the Universe. And may His peace & blessings be upon His final and most noble messenger Muhammad, his Family & companions and those who follow the guidance until the Day of Judgment. All praises due to Allah SWT who has guided us to the straight path and blessed us with the opportunity in working for His sake. I sincerely thank Allah SWT for blessing me with an amazing committee who mashAllah have given everything they have had to the dawaah at the student realm. I was elected as the chair of FOSIS Ireland on Saturday the 27th February 2010, signed the FOSIS contract and promised to remain in responsibility of this position until the next AGM in 2011. Responsibilities: Networking: amongst many organizations in Ireland & the UK in order to expand the horizons of the FOSIS Ireland outreach and impact. Mercy Mission, iERA, Cageprisoners, Al-Maghrib, Islamic Relief, MCF were amongst the few UK organizations that were contacted for help with regards to speakers & other resources. Media: Communications with the Irish Times journalist Mary Fitzgerald on two separate occasions: one for the Moazzam Begg tour and secondly for the recent article on the biggest challenge to Irish Muslims. Also establish contact with Catherine Reilly of Metro Eireann, Ronan Patrick Burtenshaw (TCD University Times Vice-Editor) with regards to interviews with Moazzam Begg. Events were promoted via email to various different journalists. Students Unions, Societies & lecturers: Met & spoke with SU Presidents of NUIG, UCC, UCD, RCSI with regards to prayer rooms, charity week 2010 & the Moazzam Begg tour and briefly on the phone with Trinity College Dublin. Arranged and committed in meeting the USI President however that never materialized due to lack of confirmation on their part. Contacted TCD Hist & TCD Phil SOC regarding a proposed debate with Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. Dr Kathleen Cavanaugh (Human Rights Centre, NUIG) & Dr Roja Fazeli (Department of Religions, TCD) were contacted for collaborations for the JAW Tour & Islamic Finance honorarium respectively. Local Muslim Organisations: Proposed an annual events planner and financial proposal to ICCI, IFI & MAI for the yearly round of events when the proposals were finalized in summer 2010.

2. Shall develop and oversee the strategic plan and annual delivery plans that work toward the FOSIS Ireland vision. 3 Year-cycle: With the help of the committee we designed a strategic plan that will encompass not just this year but hopefully 2 subsequent years (2011-2013) in a 3-year cycle that will complement the previous generations of activities with a set tarbiyah programme for the youth & students inshAllah.

Back 2 Basics: This year focused on the back to basic foundations of Islamic creed with topics diverse as tawheed, Fiqh of Salah & the hereafter being the sub-units of the theme. We complemented this with events focusing on current affairs & social aspects. 3. Shall oversee & support members of FOSIS Ireland Executive. Specific committee role sub-meetings: Meetings were organized which clarified the roles of each individual department at the beginning of the year from vice-city, services, campaigns, and communications to SAC. Speakers (services): Invited Shaykh Haitham Al-Haddad, Dr. Uthman Lateef, Shaykh Abu Usamah At-Thahabi, Moazzam Begg, Hamza Andreas Tzortzis to events in Ireland. Students Affairs: Helped ITT & ITB formulate letters of support to ISOCs with prayer room difficulties, Communicated with SUs as stated earlier. Finance: Helped financial officer prepare financial proposal and presented these proposals to ICCI, IFI & MAI during the summer. Sought permission from IFI for fundraising after jummah in January 2011. Proposal alongside Deputy Chairs (Shamil & Diana) to the community foundation of Ireland with the help of the NCP: Alhamdulliah awarded 2000 euro for the sisters only conference. Media: Contacted respected media outlets alongside Ireland Media officer. 4. Meeting Isocs; attending their events and meeting their committee: I tried my best to meet as many Isocs as I could including UCD, TCD, NUIG, UCC, DIT and my own Isoc at RCSI. Where I couldnt meet such as IT Tallaght, IT Blanchardstown was covered by my vice-chairs who were each allocated 3 Isocs as their mentees. I wasnt able to attend any UK NEC meeting nor was I able to go to the Winter Council 2010. Managed to chair 2 regional committee meetings during the regional programme 2010 & Isoc-FOSIS regional meeting November 2010. I couldnt always attend every single event by Isocs eg peripherals, newly established or developing Isocs but attended events in UCD, TCD, RCSI, DIT, DCU. Chaired the ISOC AGMs for UCD, TCD & RCSI. Delivered short and concise ISOC 101 presentations to UCC & NUIG and events management guide to RCSI ISOC.

Final words of advice to my successors:

I have to thank Allah Jallah Waala as always for everything. It is because of His blessings and mercy do we continue with our work and remain steadfast. May Allah SWT bless the 2010/2011 majlis with the best in this life and with Jannah al-firdous in the hereafter. May Allah SWT bless the future chairs and committees with sincerity, wisdom, knowledge, good character, steadfastness, patience, guidance and success in the years to come inshAllah. Ameen If anything good has come out from this then all praises solely belong to Allah Jallah Waala, and the mistakes are mine alone. JazakAllahkhaire.