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There are Professionals in USA who would initially advise you for FREE.

Is anyone willing to listen?

http://discussworldissues.com/forums...nnah_smile.gif Can you imagine our Ulama trying to engage a PR consultant http://discussworldissues.com/forums...nnah_smile.gif Close your eyes and imagine a meeting of this sort...

Our strategy HAS BEEN and WILL BE to simply:

1. Say nothing
2. Do nothing
3. Mashaykh mentioning some pearls of wisdom in their private Majalis which spreads through the land like Chinese whispers through the grape vine
4. Pearls of wisdom then discussed in Masajid, Homes and (now) forums with multiple threads on SF by people discussing, "Did Hazrat say this?" "No I was there, he said this!", "My local Maulana was there and he actually said this!"

VERSUS

Sunnah is to communicate clearly and without ambiguity.

No need to apologise.

I read your humour, but on a more serious note, I have worked with PR companies and if you pay them very well, there is nothing you have to do. In fact, as long as they are paid extremely well, they will find threads to investigate, do all the hard work, pull favours from others (their clients are also some media companies, bear in mind). So in reality, as long as Hazrat gives his approval to the scheme, there will be no need to consult Hazrat in nitty gritty matters. I really think this can work (I am generally very pessimistic), if we get someone like MCB or a very senior UK scholar to approve of the idea, and mosques start contributing funds, inshaAllah it may bring some positive change.

yes Pr would be a really good idea but where would the funding come from,if all the masjids did come together as 1,would that even be enough? Majority of masjids that i know of are struggling to pay certain items for students,and i know some of the teachers that work in these institutions are paid less,so really if most of the muslims come together and open a Pr company am sure that would work?

Sometimes we have to use hikmah when we approach such issues. I am no mufti, but isn't it time we looked at the long term benefits too?

We do, as a community, need to be proactive in these type of things. Many of our respected scholars encourage this and do say that if the Muslims do not step forth and take up positions in the community, tackle negativity and show by example that the stereotyping is only a minority position then those with prejudices against Islam will be the only ones who have their say.

The biggest hurdle they face is the backlash and lack of support from our own community. Every time someone engages in an unorthodox yet effective activity to portray Islam in a positive light then they are vilified for going against the norm even if there is nothing Islamicly wrong with the innovative method. Do you really think a Muslim making documentaries, giving interviews, allowing outsiders, heading campaigns in will be lauded by the community? Sofa critic Muslims from the community will be the first to stand up and condemn them. We need to change this attitude and realise that things need to be approached differently.

The second problem is that no matter what is said, quotes will always be taken out of context. I have been approached a number of times to give interviews about madaaris, Muslim sterotypes etc but the reluctance is due to mistrust. Unless we know how the end result is going to be portrayed, we will always have reservations.

I think it would be extremely easy for masaajids to raise a £100 per month. How hard can that be? If they can collect in millions for their glossy new buildings (the current trend up north) that are still inaccessible and badly designed, surely £100 is nothing?

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The crux of the issue and something for which I keep getting banned is "Management" of Darul-uloom. Because of lack of adequate management;decisions are either not made, or made late or incorrectly made. At the heart of it, a Darululoom is an educational institute with boarding and it needs to be run professionally.

A Darul-Iftaa in our time is providing nothing but counselling so there are similarities on which we can draw and learn how they should be run.

Plenty of Boys boarding Schools get reported in the media (remember the Catholic Church issues with abuse?) so Darul-ulooms in that sense are no different. Catholic Church has done far worse (in reality) but are trying their best to handle the situation with PR and Legal input from experts.

Our Darul-ulooms & Ulama have generally done NOTHING wrong but are being let down because the Media knows that they are soft targets. So far I believe that the Media hasn’t really brought out any major skeletons YET.

Did you watch the HMC Fiasco 4-5 weeks ago on TV? HMC paid for a program on a Pakistani Channel and they got slated! I mean how bad can you get when you can't even get publicity after paying?

And that's why you need official press releases to counter it (to some extent). Simple strategy.

Media shouldn't be coming to every Abdullah, Khalid & Aisha instead they should be directed to a central place which manages these matters coherently.

And you can't put this at the door step of community! They don't run Darul-ulooms and abolsutely no say in it whatsoever and they are very clearly told to, "BUG OUT!"...They just fund it with their money I am sure that you will never admit this...

I agree. And if well respected and very well spoken academics like Tim Winter are taken out of context, deobandi shaykhs have no chance. However, with a high profiled top PR company behind your interview, they would be very reluctant to do that. OK I have made my point, I'll stop there http://discussworldissues.com/forums...icon_smile.gif

Unfortunately most of us are stuck with a mentality that says an 'institution' is just a building. People will happily give tens of thousands to help build a beautiful mosque/madressah. We need to snap out of this and realize that the institution encopasses everything - The teachers, the guy who fills in the tax forms, all of the mushwera which takes place, the letterheads, website and salah timetables - it's all a part of it. PR affairs (eg. website) need to be run with a coherent vision by those who are experts in the field and the community needs to realize that building a mosque and (barely) paying 2 imams is nowhere near enough to establish an intsitution in this day and age. If you tried to run any other non-profit organization like we run ours you would get nowhere!

Shaykh Dr Ashraf Makadam's FMO (Federation of Muslim Organizations) is an example of an org doing good work in this area but we need our maddressahs to be similarly well-oiled and communicative with the outside world.

EDIT: this thread moves too fast..

Do you have a link to it? Which PR company did they use?

As much as it is easy to blame things on others, especially the 'ulamaa, I think it is our responsibility (and not just the 'ulamaa's) to make that change.

yes muminah,its not only the ulamahs and the people who run the masjids that should open the Pr company,as a ummah we as muslim should be also responsible for it too by helping the ulamahs set up a pr company if they allow it.

MashaAllah, that is great to hear. However, their website is down and displays an error?: www.fmo.org.uk

They didnt use a PR company or if they did :- )

Basically they paid for a program on DM Digital TV to inform people about HMC and to answer the concerns of people INSTEAD the HMC-opponents made some fantastic points.

Head of HMC was giving figures and people in the Audience had print-outs from their web-sites which said exact opposite.

People had copies of bounced checks and all sorts.

I watched the comedy for a little bit as I was visiting someone.

Basically at the heart of HMC there is a serious process problem which is:

1. They certify meat at the slaughter house
2. They certify meat at the Wholesaler
3. They certify meat at the retailer
4. They certify meat at the Takeways

Hmm...

The second problem which caught Maulana off guard was:

1. HMC Maulana said on TV that they monitor 400 outlets DAILY in Yorkshire/Lancashire ALONE
2. HMC Maulana then said that HMC has a total staff of 130 throughout UK

Hmm...

P.S: This is my Summary from memory and shouldn't be taken as the absolute bible...

Ah if only the so called rich Arab "shiekhs" would invest in the western media, rather than overpaid prima donnas, known as footballers. Then perhaps there wouldn't be a need for all this PR. Oh well at least Manchester City Fans like Arabs.

Oh, the irony!

There are literally thousands of production companies, and I highly doubt that they all reflect the above.

@Journalism, Ml.Ismaaeel Nakhuda has succeeded to be the sub-editor at Arab News, and could very well gain more experience and come back to the UK and write for major broadsheets (inshaAllah). Also, people like Ismail Adam Patel, Shaykh Mumisa and others (who have no background in journalism) have contributed to major broadsheets too. So I don't think there is a need for people to give up ambitions and skill sets just at the face of it, as there are other routes to get in, and these should be explored. wAllahu a'lam.

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If there is ONE LESSON from the life of Sayyidina Umar (RA) it is to, "Appoint the right person to the right job"...

Just because a Shaykh (from Punjab, Pakistan) is excellent at teaching Saheeh Muslim it doesn't mean that he can Manage & Administer a Darul-uloom in UK with its unique set of challenges and vice versa.

Synergy of Ulama and Non-Ulama needs to occur.

This is not feasible with them. I will say no more.

I couldn't beleive that HMC actually paid for this program!