Updated 18 November 2008

“And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful.”  (Surah Al-i-Imran, 3:104)

At the landmark IEB Muballigheen Retreat of 2005, it was agreed that The World Federation and The Africa Federation would work together to achieve the primary goals of 'Economic Upliftment' and 'Empowerment' of local African Tableegh organisations in East Africa. A task force was formed to head the research and field work of these institutions and produce a report with recommendations for the way forward.
 
Following the completion of that report, a meeting was held in Dar es Salaam on 11 October 2008. A host of organisations attended the meeting. The World Federation was represented by its Secretary General, Yasin bhai Rahim, and The Africa Federation was represented by its Vice Chairman, Al-Hajj Zulfikar bhai Dewji.
 
In his opening address, the chairman of the Central Bilal Board, Al-Hajj Pyarali bhai Shivji, outlined the importance of the meeting, to discuss the recommendations of the Task Force report. The six recommendations are paraphrased as follows:
 

1. Set up a formal association which would, for a specified period, work religiously to create a climate of harmony and coexistence.
   
   
2. Urgent need to look into the quality of Muballigheen and their standards of knowledge, and consider the establishment of an institute of higher religious education whose objective would be to advocate or conduct upgrading the skills of Muballigheen.
   
   
3. Establish an education fund for Africa.
   
   
4. Establishment of Islamic centers in rural areas and a responsible system for their maintenance.
   
   
5. Effective planning to eradicate economic dependency.
   
   
6. Inculcate a culture of effective monitoring and evaluation of work thereby leading to excellence and best practice.

Following an engaging discussion amongst the attendees, the following action points have been agreed:

1. The BLESS scholarships will be increased from 10 to 12. 
   
   
2. The ZCSS student scholarships will be increased from 120 to 300. Of these, 60 will be allocated to WIPAHS (Kibaha), 20 to Darul Muslimeen (Dodoma), and 20 to Ahlul Bayt Centre (Arusha). The details of these will be worked through by Central Bilal Board.
   
   
3. Organisations such as WIPAHS and others can apply for the BLESS scholarship.
   
   
4. The next meeting of the group will be convened in January 2009 by Central Bilal Board to discuss a number of cooperative initiatives, especially the issue of centralisiing and coordinating the efforts within Islamic Education and its syllabus. The World Federation will be represented by Jaffer bhai Dharamsi at that meeting.
   
   
5. Another meeting will be organised in May 2009 when the progress on the six recommendations of the ATF report will be reviewed

The Vice Chairman of The Africa Federation, Al-Hajj Zulfikar bhai Dewji, commented, "This historic meeting and agreed way forward was long overdue. I commend each participant of this crucial meeting for their willingness to attend, participate, and contribute to the agenda of furthering the Economic Upliftment and Empowerment of our local African Tableegh institutions. The agreed action points have now given us the direction to proceed and The Africa Federation is 100% committed to supporting the delivery of these."
 
Al - Hajj Pyarali bhai Shivji, Chairman of CBB, said, "The recommendations mentioned in the Report are very interesting and very challenging but very much “implementable”. What is now required is positive approach, broad-mindedness, mutual trust and respect, and a proper focus of what needs to be achieved."
 
For more information, please email islamiceducation@world-federation.org