The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) originated in the United Kingdom on 27 June 2006 with the aim of promoting best practice in British mosques. It is an independent self-regulatory body aspiring to build capacity in mosques, help deliver standards and ensure mosque personnel have a better understanding of British Muslims needs so that it can address any concerns more effectively. It works with and represents all Muslim traditions and schools of thought.
Following the launch of the draft constitution in November 2007, there was a further process of consultation with representatives of mosques, Islamic centres, Imam training institutes, leaders and scholars. The consultation events took place in all the major cities in the UK and this work was undertaken by an interim steering group, composed of representatives from the four founder organisations:
Al-Khoei Foundation,
British Muslim Forum,
Muslim Association of Britain
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) is a British Sunni Muslim organisation founded in 1997. MAB has been well known for its participation in the protests opposing the Iraq War. More recently, it has been known for promoting Muslim partic ...
and
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is a national umbrella body with over 500 mosques and educational and charitable associations affiliated to it. It includes national, regional, local, and specialist Muslim organisations and institutions fro ...
.
MINAB now has over six hundred mosques and Islamic institutes as its members. It is a charity registered under the laws of England & Wales with an accountable system of representation.
The MINAB will capacity build mosques through standards. It has five standards:
# Members apply principles of good corporate governance
# Members ensure that services are provided by suitably qualified and or experienced personnel
# There are systems and processes in place to ensure that there are no impediments to the participation in the activities, including governance, for young people
# There are systems and processes in place to ensure that there are no impediments to the participation in the activities, including governance, for women
# Members ensure there are programmes that promote civic responsibility of Muslims in the wider society
The process of self-certification is that the mosques will self-certify whether they fully meet or partially meet each of the above five standards. The MINAB will then randomly select 50% of the mosques who state that they fully meet the standard to assess how the organisation does so. If the assessment process highlights that the organisation does not meet the standard that it has self certified that it does, the MINAB will then support it through its capacity building programme. The body has been praised by some, like Communities Secretary
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a former British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles, previously Salford, from 1997 to 2015.
One of 101 female Labour MPs elected at the 1997 g ...
. Other have questioned its apparent links with the government.
Inayat Bunglawala
Inayat Bunglawala was media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain until 2010.
He joined The Young Muslims UK in 1987. He is also a co-presenter of the weekly 'Politics and Media Show' on the Islam Channel (SKY 813). In October 2009 he regist ...
said: "If MINAB is to stand any chance of gaining legitimacy and making actual progress then it will need to prove that it is free from governmental interference."
Stepping forward on a fine line , Comment is free
/ref>
Notes
External links
Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board"Watchdog for UK mosques launches"
''BBC News''
MINAB launch
''MCB''
''Faisal Bodi,Commentisfree''
{dead link, date=February 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes MINAB standards document
Islamic organisations based in the United Kingdom