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FOSIS Midlands ISOC Affiliation

FOSIS Midlands: An Introduction

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A message from the FOSIS Midlands Chair

Salaam Alaikum, Welcome to your first interaction with FOSIS Midlands this year. May Allah make your year with Isoc this year blessed and may He put barakah in your time and reward your immensely for the work you are doing.

We (we being Team FOSIS) are here solely to help you. This is the purpose of this organisation. To help Isoc’s around the country, and our Midlands team is dedicated to your guys. The contact details of all our regional committee are in this booklet, please feel free to get into touch at any time, whenever you need any help, any moral support, or even just want a chat.

I say this especially to the Isoc head brothers/ sisters, it can be tough to manage your time and studies etc. and may feel overwhelming at times, but you are doing this for the sake of Allah, and the impact you guys make on campus and around the city is profound, just keep at it, and just get in touch if you need any help.

This booklet is a means to show you guys a glimpse of what we do and how we can benefit you over the course of the year In shaa Allah.

Yours truly,

Thaqib Moosa

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Established in 1963 by international students, FOSIS has developed to be the hub of Muslim students across the UK and Ireland.

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The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) was established in 1963 as an umbrella organisation to oversee and support Isocs, which in turn serve Muslim students on campuses across the UK and Ireland. By cultivating faith and inspiring leadership, we aspire to create a better tomorrow, enjoyed by all of humanity. Thus, at the heart of FOSIS is our vision: “A world where every Muslim is a leader for their community” Since its inception, FOSIS has worked hard to ensure that Islamic Societies are strong and robust organisations, providing them with the support and services they need to adequately

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serve their communities: fellow Muslims and friends of other faiths. We seek to achieve this by upholding the Quranic command: “Hold fast to the rope of Allah, all of you together, and do not be disunited” (al-Imran: 103) Over the years, FOSIS has given rise to many of the largest Islamic organisations in the West including Islamic Relief and MSA National in the USA. This is a great achievement as FOSIS, including its executive committee, has always been entirely run by volunteers who are diligently working alongside their academic studies.

What is FOSIS? -‐ What the organisation is -‐ What we do

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FOSIS has teams in each of the regions; Scotland, North, South, London, Wales and West, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and us, the Midlands. The regional committees are a point of contact if you, as an Isoc, encounter any problems.

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The Midlands is a large region, covering large cities and remote locations from Birmingham to Buckingham. Consequently, there are 35+ Isocs that we look after, all who cater for a diverse range of Muslim students. Some Isoc’s have more members than others, others Isoc’s are newly established. Some Isoc’s don’t even have prayer rooms, others have very good relations with their Student Union’s. No matter where you are in this spectrum, FOSIS are here to help. In our team we have specially selected individuals who have been trained in their role to help you to the best of their ability. A full list of committee roles, a description of what they

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are and how you can utilise can be found on page 8. We are here for you if you need anything for an event, if you are having political problems or even if you need a friendly person to talk to. A recent example of how we have helped Isoc’s is the prayer room campaign. Aston University, University of Leicester and Birmingham Metropolitan College were threatened to have their prayer room removed but the FOSIS Midlands team, in particular the SAC representative, worked with the universities’ student union’s and improved their understanding on the need for such a space.

What is FOSIS Midlands? -‐ yWhat we do -‐ How the team works -‐ What we have done in the past -‐ How does this relate to your Isoc

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As well as supporting Isoc’s on a personal level, we also hold regional events, Isoc training workshops, regional charity initiative, speaker tours, khateeb training, socials and much more.

The events that we hold vary from year to year and we will update you on any new events that are taking place. The calendar of events for this year can be found on page 11. ‘Kickstart’ and ‘ISOC 101’ are our recurring workshops that aid in Isoc training at the beginning and end of each academic year. Led by an instructor who has had an immeasurable amount of Isoc experience through being on an Isoc committee at university and via working at FOSIS, your perspective will change and you will be better prepared in dealing with the challenges ahead. A very popular initiative for the brother’s has been the Midlands Premier League where Isoc’s compete in football matches with each other. As well as it being a bit of healthy competition, social events are a chance to meet brothers from across the region and expand your networks in a less formal environment. Our social media pages, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are always buzzing with the latest news and pictures from events so be sure to check them out! If you have an idea for an event don’t hesitate in contacting us! We’re always open to hearing new ideas and planning them out.

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Beauchamp College Isoc affiliating to FOSIS last year was one of the best things we could have done. We had an excellent relationship and they provided us with whatever we needed throughout the year. They organised a number of events focusing on improving our Isocs and improving ourselves so that we could serve the Muslim students in our college better. One example of their service to us was when planning for our first event of the year, the FOSIS Services Rep organised a speaker for us as well as transport to Beauchamp College and back for our speaker. This was all achieved with very little effort from us which just highlights how useful FOSIS can be to help Isoc’s get speakers for events. This service is in addition to the wide range of speaker tours FOSIS organises so if finding speakers is a struggle, FOSIS can be an excellent source. FOSIS also provides many other services such as Isoc committee

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training which can be extremely useful to a new committee who are not experienced. The FOSIS Members who spoke to us throughout the year were very friendly and professional. They maintained contact throughout the year and regularly checked to see if we were alright and if the Isoc needed anything. In FOSIS events, they took out time to speak to us individually to get to know us and also sent a representative to visit us during our events. I would say that the best part of being affiliated to FOSIS is attending FOSIS Conferences. They are extremely motivating and very well organised with a large amount of fantastic and inspirational speakers. Just being around the attendees of the conference is good enough as they are all very inspiring people and it removes that feeling of isolation you could have in your Isoc if your active members are few.

Case study: Beauchamp College Isoc

By Aaquib Naved

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Case study: Q&A with Keele University

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Q: What was your first impression of FOSIS Midlands?

A: FOSIS Midlands really came through for us last year when they provided us with an amazing speaker, Abu Ibrahim, for our Fresher’s Week. They have also previously provided workshops to train our committee, such as Kickstart and ISOC 101 which gave us a sense of direction as to where we were headed as an Isoc. However, we didn’t really have any direct experience of them until they asked us to host the Winter Conference; we happily obliged.

Q: A lot of attendees from the Winter Conference it was the most well organised conference that they had ever been to! A: The FOSIS Winter Conference in December 2014 really helped to put Keele Isoc on the map. Nobody really knew that

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much about us before then. Hosting was a great opportunity to show what we, as a fairly small Isoc, were capable of doing. Although our committee didn’t get to spent as much time enjoying the conference as we were busy sorting out logistics for workshops (it was very important that everything happened in once building, especially as it was winter), and making sure that everyone was comfortable.

Q: What would you say was the highlight of affiliating with FOSIS? Probably attending their conferences, it’s impossible not to notice the sheer scale of unity that FOSIS generated. It also gives us the chance to network with some very successful and renown Isocs that help us to realise what we need to have a better functioning committee, and they are brilliant occasion to meet Muslims from all over the UK and Ireland..

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Meet the team

Chair: Thaqib Moosa What the role includes: Running the committee, generating a strategic year plan, visiting Isoc’s and inviting them to regional events. Your point of contact if: you have any problems, need someone to talk to or just have an interesting event you want attending! Fun fact: I name my pens [email protected]

Vice Brother: TBC What the role includes: to build a rapport and assist ISOC’s with specific requests and to project manage regional events. Your point of contact if: you have any problems within Isoc committee and regional event ideas (brothers). [email protected]

Vice Sister: Rabe’a Abdool Carrim What the role includes: to build a rapport and assist ISOC’s with specific requestsand to project manage regional events. Your point of contact if: you have any problems within Isoc committee and regional event ideas (sisters). Fun fact: * [email protected]

Deputy Vice Brother: Abdul-Rehman Chaudhry What the role includes: to support the vice brother in helping ISOC’s and project managing events. Your point of contact if: you have any problems at all (brothers). Fun fact: I want to work in the media industry as a creative producer and make a media franchise that helps the portray Islam in a good light [email protected]

Deputy Vice Sister: Ayla Hussain What the role includes: to support the vice sister in helping out ISOC’s in particular, the sisters. Your point of contact if: you have any problems at all (sisters). Fun fact: I love travelling [email protected]

Finance Officer: Muhammad Shahzaid What the role includes: To manage FOSIS Midlands’s finances and to organise sponsorship drive. Fun fact: I like going to the gym [email protected]

General Secretary: Khalidah Begum What the role includes: organising meetings, preparing agendas, replying to emails, keeping track of communication. Fun fact: I once ate 7 chilies in a row as part of a competition [email protected]

Communications Officer: Aamina Siddiqi What the role includes: to maintain effective communication between National Committees, Regional Committees, and Islamic Societies. Your point of contact if: you need to publicise an event. Fun fact: I own far too many cookery books [email protected]

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Campaigns Rep: Safaa Nait-Charif What the role includes: to support the FOSIS Campaigns team and to form a regional campaigns committee to coordinate activities in the Midlands. Fun fact: My first language was Japanese [email protected]

Student Affairs (SAC) West Midlands: Shuheb Ahmed What the role includes: to support, develop and strengthen student Islamic Societies. Your point of contact if: you need help in conducting diplomatic issues with your student unions. Fun fact: I have a dog with a politically problematic name [email protected]

Colleges Rep: Aaquib Naved What the role includes: to support college Isocs develop and to assist them with planning events Your point of contact if: you are a college Isoc and need any assistance Fun fact: I like Star Wars [email protected]

Services Rep: Sajjad Kallil What the role includes: To contact speakers for Isoc events and to provide transport to regional / national events Your point of contact if: you would like a speaker for your Isoc Fun fact: I like cycling [email protected]

Student Affairs (SAC) East Midlands: Aqeelah Malek What the role includes: to support, develop and strengthen student Islamic Societies. Your point of contact if: you need help in conducting diplomatic issues with your student union. Fun fact: I like dinosaurs

Insha’Allah you get to meet all of us! If you have any queries at all you can e-mail any one of us and we can assist you directly or if you have a specific issue we can refer you to the relevant individuals. You can speak to us about anything relating to your Isoc, FOSIS, if you have an idea for an event you want us to take onboard or anything at all. We are here to serve you.

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Our plans for the year/ calendar

The Midlands

Below is a map of the Midlands, the yellow dots represent the universities in the region, and as you can see they are quite dispersed geographically. If we take into account colleges and sixth forms, there is so much potential. Statistically, the Midlands more young people than anywhere else in the UK! As Isoc’s it is important to look after the youth and develop them positively while they are in important stages in their educational life.

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Our Calendar Year

AUGUST

Regional Webinar

A webinar to share best practice and to

SEPTEMBER

Midlands Kickstart An opportunity to meet other Isoc’s in the region

NOVEMBER

Islamaphobia Awareness Month speaker tour working with organisations to raise awareness and prevent Islamaphobia on campuses

JANUARY

FOSIS Olympics Our own version of the olympics

MARCH

Midlands Premier League FINALS

APRIL

AGM your chance to hold the current committee accountable and to elect a new one

FEBRUARY

Discover Islam Week Believe and Do Good Campaign

DECEMBER

FOSIS Winter Conference Our traditional annual conference

OCTOBER

Black History Month speaker tour

ISOC 101

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Facebook.com/fosismidlands

@fosismidlands

@fosismidlands

Wordpress.com/fosismidlands

FOSIS 38 Mapesbury Road,

London NW2 4JD

midlands.fosis.org.uk/

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