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Constitution
Article I TITLE
The name of the organization shall be the Islamic Society of Augusta, hereafter
referred to as the ISA.
Article II INCORPORATION
The organization shall be incorporated as a non-profit organization
in Augusta, Georgia.
Article III CREED
The creed of this organization will be: La Iaha illa 'ALLAH. MUHAMMAD
Rasul-ul- ALLAH.
This means: There is no deity other than Allah. Allah is the only one worthy of
worship, obedience, and submission. Muhammad (PBUH) is His last messenger and
guide to mankind.
Article IV PURPOSES
The purposes of the ISA will be:
1. To lead life according to the principles of Islam as given by Allah and His
messenger,
Muhammad (PBUH).
2. To help Muslims carry out their activities in pursuance of Islam as a way of
life.
3. To carry out religious, social, civic, charitable, literary, or other Islamic
activities.
4. To apply the Islamic principles and practices to ourselves and our children
and to keep
our Islamic heritage for the future generations.
5. To strengthen the relationships among Muslims.
6. To promote cordial relations and better understanding between Muslims and
non-Mus
lims.
7. Islamic Da'wa - to present the Islamic message to the people of other faiths.
8. To encourage Islamic education among the members and families of the ISA.
9. To promote cooperation with other Muslim organizations.
Article V MEMBERSHIP
Membership will be open to all Muslims that are interested in participating in
the activities of the ISA as outlined above and according to the by-laws.
Article VI AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Amendments to the Constitution will be possible at a General Assembly
meeting. The amendment must be presented in written form to the General
Assembly two weeks prior to the voting date. A quorum of one-half of the voting
members and a two-third majority vote of the voting members present shall be
necessary for the adoption of the amendment.
Article VII AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
Amendments to the by-laws will be possible at a General Assembly
meeting. The amendment must be presented in written form to the General Assembly
two weeks prior to the voting date. A quorum of one-fourth of the voting members
and a two-thirds majority vote of the voting members present will be necessary
for the adoption of the amendment.
Last amended and approved by the general membership on February 23, 1986.
By –Laws
Article I MEMBERSHIP
1. Membership is open to any Muslim who believes in the basic
concepts of Islam, the creed,
and the purposes of the ISA as outlined in the Constitution and By-Laws.
2. The membership of any member who is involved in any activity against Islam
and the
purposes and objectives of the ISA can be terminated. The charges must be
submitted by
two members in writing to the Islamic Center Committee. Membership can then only
be
terminated at a Business meeting with one-half quorum and a simple majority
vote.
Article II MEETINGS
1. The regular, weekly meeting will be called the "General Assembly" meeting and
will
include all members. It shall be held at the Islamic Center of Augusta, 3416
Middleton
Street, Augusta, GA 30907. A portion of the meeting will be designated as
business
meeting to discuss of administrative matters as well as any other business that
comes up.
2. A quarterly business meeting will be held in which the officers will present
brief reports of
their activities and the members will have the opportunity to discuss in more
detail the
affairs of the society in general.
3. The last General Assembly meeting in the month of February will be designed
the "Annual
Meeting." During this meeting, the annual reports by the officers will be
presented and the
election of the new officers will be held.
4. The President at his own discretion, or upon the request of more than
one-half of the
membership, shall call a Special Meeting. Notification of a Special Meeting will
be made
to the entire membership either by mail or telephone.
5. Notice of Meetings: Announcement at the weekly General Assembly meeting shall
constitute due notice of the quarterly business. For special called meetings at
times other
than those already scheduled, notice will be given either by phone or mail.
Article III ISLAMIC CENTER COMMITTEE
1. The Islamic Center Committee (ICC) is the governing body of the
ISA and shall consist of the President, Secretary, Treasurer, Education
Secretary, Social Secretary, Librarian, Women's Representative, Youth
Representative, and three Members-at-Large. The Imam of the Muslim Community
Center of Augusta will be a nonvoting ex-officio member of the ICC.
2. The functions of the ICC will be to oversee the programs of the ISA, assure
proper
maintenance of the mosque, to seek continued funding, and to prepare an annual
budget.
All actions should be in accordance with Islamic principles and in conformity
with the Constitution and By-Laws.
3. The ICC will have at least one formal meeting each month.
4. All officers will be elected at the Annual Meeting and will serve for one
year terms, except
for the Education Secretary who will serve a two-year term and the
Members-at-Large
who will serve for three consecutive years. The first year this is implemented,
the nominee
for a Member-at-Large who receives the most votes will serve for three years,
the next for
two years, and the nominee who receives the least number of votes will serve for
only one
year.
5. Nominees for any of the offices, shall be regular members in good standing
with voting
rights. They should have demonstrated adherence to the principles embodied in
the
Constitution. They should have been regular members for at least one year except
that
Members-at-Large should have been regular members for at least three years and
should
also have served in another capacity on the ICC for at least one complete term.
6. Each officer can succeed himself not more than two times consecutively in the
same office.
Article IV OFFICERS PRESIDENT
1. Shall preside at all meetings of the General Assembly and of the
ICC.
2. Shall be the official spokesman of the ISA.
3. Shall countersign all checks issued by the Treasurer.
4. Shall sign, jointly with the Secretary, all official correspondence issued by
the ISA.
5. Shall, in consultation with other members of ICC, appoint either standing or
ad Hoc Committees to perform certain functions and will be an ex-officio member
of all committees.
6. Shall, in case of a tie, have a casting vote.
SECRETARY
1. Shall keep an accurate and up-to-date record of the proceedings of
all meetings of the
General Assembly and the ICC.
2. Shall keep an accurate and up-to-date roster, listing the names, addresses,
and telephone
numbers of all members.
3. Shall have custody to all official records, files, and papers pertaining to
his office.
4. Shall prepare, sign, and mail notices notices for special called meetings.
Alternatively, the
notice can be given by phone contact.
5. Shall prepare and mail all correspondance of a special nature according to
the decisions
taken by the General Assembly or by the ICC.
6. Shall make an official, written report to the General Assembly every three
months on the activities of the ISA.
TREASURER
1. Shall maintain a bank account in the name of the ISA and shall
deposit all funds therein
immediately after receiving them.
2. Shall pay all bills and prepare and sign all checks and have them
countersigned by the
President.
3. Shall keep the financial record of the ISA up-to-date and give a written
summary to the
General Assembly every three months.
4. Shall prepare a budget to be approved by ICC and presented to the first
quarterly General
Assembly meeting.
5. Shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at its Annual Meeting, a
statement of
accounts and finances of the ISA as of December 31st (the end of the Fiscal
year).
EDUCATION SECRETARY
The education secretary will head the Education Committee. This will consist of
the instructors selected by the secretary and approved by the ICC. The Education
Committee will be in charge of the Islamic Society School and it will:
1. Develop the curriculum and select the books and other educational materials.
2. Develop special activities/programs for the school children.
3. Propose a budget.
4. Collect the school dues.
5. Periodically prepare a report of the school's activities to be reviewed and
approved by
ICC. LIBRARIAN
The librarian will head the Library Committee consisting of 3-5 members. These
members will be selected by the librarian and approved by the ICC. The Library
Committee is to.
1. Keep an updated inventory of the books and audiovisual materials available at
the library.
2. Properly catalog the books and the audiovisual materials.
3. Devise and enforce a policy for the use of the library materials by ISA
membership. This
policy should allow reasonable access and at the same time should ensure timely
retrieval
of the library material.
4. Propose to ICC new books/audiovisual materials for acquisition by the
library, within the,
allocated budget.
SOCIAL SECRETARY
1. Shall be responsible for coordinating the social activities of the ISA.
2. Shall be responsible for assuring that the Islamic Center is kept clean and
well-maintained.
WOMEN'S REPRESENTATIVE
1. Should be selected by the voting women members of the society.
2. Shall be responsbile to present the opinions and concerns of the women
members.
3. She would propose/coordinate programs/activities to be performed by the women
members.
YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE
1. Shall be the president of the youth group.
2. Shall be responsible to report the youth group activities.
3 Shall coordinate any projects that the youth group would be asked to
participate in.
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Because of their longer duration of membership and prior experience at the ICC,
Members-at- Large should be fully aware of the history of ISA, the principles on
which it was organized, its achievements, and problems. Their main role should
be to assure that the activities in the mosque and decisions made by the ICC are
in accordance with Islamic principles and are in conformity with the
Constitution and By-Laws of ISA. In addition, they will help maintain continuity
of the ISA leadership and smooth the functioning of ICC during the transitional
period with yearly election of new officers.
Moreover, they will:
1. Develop long term plans for ISA and propose new projects/activities.
2. Function as consultants/advisors (counselors) to the President and other
members of ICC.
3. Perform certain tasks or assume certain responsibilities - for example, new
projects - as
assigned by the President or ICC.
4. The third year member at large shall in the absence of, or in the event of
the inability of the
president, act for and perform all the duties of the president.
Article V VOTING
1. The election of new officers will be held at the last General Assembly
meeting, the
"Annual Meeting" in February. New officers, except the Education Secretary, will
assume
responsibilities as of the first General Assembly meeting in March.
2. The Education Secretary-Elect will assume the responsibility at the beginning
of the
subsequent Islamic school year in September. The Education Secretary-Elect will
assist
the serving Education Secretary during this transition period. During this
period the
Education Secretary-Elect may formulate new plans or changes in the curriculum,
in
consultation with the serving secretary and the approval of the ICC. These
changes (if
any) will be implemented only at the beginning of the school year.
3. The right to vote will be given to members over the age of 18 who have
attended at least
fifteen (15) business meetings in the past year and who have paid all. the
expected
minimum donations to the General Fund as outlined in Article VII. The
requirement of donations can be waived based on financial situation of members
by appealing to the ICC.
4. The Secretary and Treasurer shall compile a list of members who are eligible
to vote. This
list will be available at least three weeks prior to the Annual Meeting.
5. By at least three weeks prior to the elections, the ICC will have selected
two members
with voting rights to serve as the Election Committee. In accepting this
position, the two
committee members will understand that they will be ineligible to be nominated
for an
office for that year. It shall he the responsibility of this committee to accept
nominations,
print ballots, count votes, announce the elected officers, and to prepare a
report of the
elections procedures to be kept on file.
6. Any voting ISA member can nominate. Nominations will be accepted at the
General
Assembly meeting two weeks prior to the election. In addition, nominations can
be made
by personal contact with the members of the Election Committee before this
meeting
and/or during the week after this meeting. However, the approval of the nominee
should
be secured beforehand.
For all nominees there should be at least two nominating members.
The week prior to the Annual Meeting, just before the General Assembly meeting,
the Election Committee should have consulted with all the nominees to confirm
their acceptance. The Election Committee will announce the slate oOf nominees in
this meeting. Additional nominations may be accepted from the floor at that
time. However, these nominees should be personally present and voice their
approval. Only if there is more than one nominee to an office, a nominee may
elect to withdraw. No withdrawals are allowed after this time. The slate of
nominees would thus be final at the close of the General Assembly meeting the
week prior to the Annual Meeting.
7. Voting by proxy will be allowed if the member is eligible to vote and if
written
authorization is given to another eligible ISA member. This written
authorization must be
presented at the time of voting.
8. The Secretary and Treasurer will update the list of members eligible to vote
by the end of
July of each year.
9. Voting on any ammendment to the Constitution or By-Laws will be based on the
most
recent list of members eligible to vote. Voting by proxy will be allowed as
described in
sub-section 7.
Article VI VACANCY OF OFFICER'S POSITION
1. If an officer is going to be unable to attend the meetings for up to three
months, the president will ask another member of the ICC to assume that office
temporarily, in addition to the duties of his/her office.
If the absenteeism period is going to be more than three months, the procedure
will be similar to Section 2.
2. If an officer vacates his/her position by resignation, moving, or otherwise,
the other
nominee for this office, in the previous election, with the second largest votes
will
automatically assume office for the remainder of the term. If there were no
other
nominees, the immediate past office holder will be asked to assume the position.
If
unwilling or unable, the president, with the approval of the ICC, will appoint a
voting
member from the community who is otherwise qualified to be nominated for the
particular
office to assume the office for the remainder of the term.
3. If the remaining period of the term under Section 2 is less than three
months, the ICC may
decide to proceed as in Section 1.
Article VII FINANCIAL SUPPORT
1. All projects and activities carried out by the Islamic Society of Augusta
(ISA), including
Operations and Maintenance expenses, are the financial responsibility of the
members
2. The Islamic Center Committee (ICC) administers the funds collected from
members and
other sources. The funds will be used for the operations and maintenance of the
ISA and
to carry out other activities, as appropriate.
3. Operations and Maintenance expenses will be paid from the General Fund.
Members are
expected to make minimum monthly donations to the General Fund as follows:
Minimum of fifteen dollars ($15) per month for an individual.
Minimum of twenty dollars ($20) per month for a family.
Minimum of two dollars ($2) per month for a student aged 18-25.
4. In addition to the General Fund, Members are encouraged to donate to other
funds such
as: Education, Library, Dawa, Zakat-al-Mal, Zakat-al-Fitr, Sadaqah, etc.
Article VIII AUDIT
1. Fiscal year of the ISA will be from January 1st through December 31st.
2. The President shall initiate an independent audit of the ISA finances once
each year.
The last amendments to the by-laws on (article 4 and 8) were approved in the
general Body Meeting, January 10, 1999.