Questions and answers from the Community Meeting on 09.24.10

1. How is the non-profit organization being registered?  Is it charitable or religious?  Masjid Al Emaan is registered as a religious organization under the State of California and the IRS 501(c)3
2. What is the Mission Statement for this organization?  This is the mission statement of Masjid Al Emaan:  To promote the five pillars of Islam: 1. Shahadah 2. Salat 3. Zakat 4. Sawm 5. Hajj.  To establish the Holy Qu'ran as the book of guidance for humanity, as an example of human conduct the life of Prophet Muhammad. (saaw) To teach and propagate the religion of Al-Islam in accordance with the clear dictates of the Holy Qu'ran, Sunnah, and Hadith of the life of Prophet Muhammad. (saaw) To support the Dawah (propagation) efforts of Prophet Muhammad. (saaw)To promote and assist in the improvement of the social and religious welfare of all people. To abide by the Constitution of the United States of America, and the laws of the state of California.  To cultivate the patterned growth of human excellence and good character through building good relationships with God conscious people.  To be a model community in the broadest sense, not leaving anything of value out, a community which is balanced, witnessing to all people, a community that God establishes, approves of and supports. (continued after the jump)
3. What are the planned objectives to achieve this mission?  The Masjid al Emaan executive board and Junior executive will work together with others from the Muslim community and with other community organizations to attain this by setting up communities.
4. Who bears the legal and financial liability?  Since we are a Non-Profit Organization, we will follow the rules of the State of California and the Internal Revenue Service.  Article 8 paragraph 8.3 in our by-laws answer this question.
5. How are donations being handled?  Do you deposit the donations in a bank account?  At this point, all donations are handled by the Treasurer and Vice-Treasurer.  All monies are deposited in to the Masjid Al Emaan bank account located at the Bank of Stockton.
6. If so what is the name of the bank?  The Bank of Stockton.
7. Is there a balance sheet for the financial activities?  Yes, there is a balance sheet.  It is available upon request.
8. Per the by-laws, do you post the balance sheet in a visible location on the premise?  By state and federal laws, we are not required to post the balance sheet. However, it must be made available to state or federal agencies and its members upon request.
9. In specific terms, how are you planning to serve the community?  It is the job of this board to promote and represent this community at any religious function to  uphold the rules of Islam.  To listen to it's community members about concerns or suggestions it might have and to hold open community meetings quarterly, and to allow any community member to speak with the Board by requesting a meeting.  To involve the community in future events.
10. What is the role of youth in this organization?  We have set up a Junior Executive Board that will be comprised of young people ages 18-31. That board will have five members; three men and two women.  Their job is to promote Islam to young people in the community, help with fundraising ideas, and liaise between Senior board members and the youth.  One of those members will advise Senior board members of events that they should be involved in.
11. What is the role of women in this organization?  We have two women on the Senior board; they are Sisters Amal Karabala and Abeer Faidi.  Their job is to represent the voice of the women in the community and to inform the Senior board of the needs of the sisters, as well as bringing their comments and suggestions to the Senior boards attention.
12. For income tax purposes, do donors get receipts if donations are made by check?  Yes, any person that makes a donation to the Masjid can get a receipt upon request so they can deduct it on their taxes.
13. Do you post meeting minutes in a visible location?  No, but all the minutes from tho board meetings are available upon request, and we are looking into publishing a monthly newsletter that will have the minutes from all monthly board meetings Web Editor Update:  We are posting the minutes on the Masjid Al Emaan website.
14. Does the organization have legal or financial representation?  At this time we do not have financial or legal representation, but we have Instacorp.com compiling our state and federal paperwork.  We will be looking into finding an attorney to help us with some of the legal areas for purchasing land to build our new Masjid.  We are also looking into purchasing QuickBooks for Non-Profit to keep our financial records.  This will be good so we can send them to an accountant to keep them up to date.
15. Is there any member of the committee that receives salary for his service?  Currently no board member receives a salary for their service.  However,  we will have to look into paying wages to a full time administrative staff to run the new Masjid once it is built. (Please use part of the three year plan to answer this question.)
16. What action would you take if the community is dissatisfied with your collective or individual actions?  If the community is not satisfied with the board or an individual they can request a meeting to discuss their concerns.  Please use our by-laws under Article 4, Paragraph 4.8 to answer your question.
17. What would you expect the community to do then? Please use our by-laws, Article 4, paragraph 10 to answer this question.
18. How familiar are you with state and federal by-laws of a non-profit organization?  Our by-laws have been written under the rules of the Federal law, under the Non-Profit Act 501 (c) 3, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.  They were also reviewed by a non-profit grant writer to insure that they met state and federal requirements.
19. Can you provide the community with copies and post it in a visible place?  Yes, we are required by law to post it.  The filed paperwork will return within the next 30-45 days.  At that time we will post it for all to see.  Once we have received our state papers, we will file with the IRS.  By law, we have to file within 27 months of state approval.