Newsletter 2 – 2020

Message of Encouragement to our Students as we enjoy the Barakah of the Holy month of Ramadan

Authors: Prof KC Moloi, Mualima R. Ariefdien, Ms S Jaffer, Mrs, S Martin, Ms Z September, Mrs Y. Dollie, Mr Muneeb Solomon, Shaykh Mukhtar, Shaykh Z Fataar & Shaykh I Isaacs

As salaamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

On behalf of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees –  Madina Institute South Africa, the staff conveys warm wishes to our beloved students and their parents as we enjoy the blessed month of Ramadan.

In our quest, sincerity and zeal to obey and please Allah (Subhana wa taala), we can never be grateful enough, for being Muslims and being part of the tradition of our Beloved Master Sayyidina Prophet Muhammad (sallala alahi wa aalihi wasalam), which is to fast in this Holy month of Ramadan.  For us at Madina Institute South Africa, Ramadan is our peak season to fortify and solidify our efforts. Acts of ibadah, nafl salaat, fasting, generosity, taking the extra mile to be the very best we can ever be is our priority to gain closeness to our Creator.  Ramadan not only regenerates our spiritual lives, but it steers our intellectual faculties and physical mobility to want to do more and more and more, because this blessed month comes only once, after eleven months!! It is with this spirt of yearning and desire for what is best for our students, that we encourage you to steer your minds and bodies towards more focus and exert more effort and energy into your academic work. Yes. You can do it. You are capable. You have the brains. You have the youth, the vigour, the time, excellent lecturers and supportive administrative staff, excellent and supportive parents, supportive Board of Trustees, all of whom focus their time, their energy, their wealth just for you and for your welfare.

As we straddle with our daily teaching, research and community engagement activities, we are also thinking about the future ahead and the strategic direction we want take at Madina Institute. Our key strategic thrust areas include: the ability to create sustainable growth, value, stakeholder satisfaction within and outside the institution.  Our strategic architecture of efficiency and effectiveness in these areas will be the basis for internal process performance systems, learning and growth, to achieve the overall institutional value, transformation and student satisfaction.  As we develop our strategy, it is important to remember that Madina Institute is committed to a process of personal and institutional transformation and impact in key areas of scholarship: transformative teaching and learning, competitive research outputs, creativity, community outreach and innovation and excellent Islamic curriculum.  As an institution of choice, we make sure that our work enhances this transformation agenda that is being spearheaded by the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees. We are committed to making sure that we contribute to the holistic development of our students and that we nurture, scaffold and build them morally, spiritually and intellectually within an institutional ethos and Islamic culture where, YOU – our students can feel safe, loved, valued and you can flourish into models of Islamic values.

Our future aspiration is seeing Madina Institute grow in numbers, grow in the disciplines we offer, grow in the quality of our thinking, so that together, we can build a transformative teaching and learning environment that not only provides intellectual grounding, but grows young men and women imbued with values of illumination, compassion, love, forbearance, courage, generosity, assertiveness, scholarship and selflessness. Our mandate is alignment with the vision of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees, whose aspiration and goal of “a preferred student experience” which is defined as “to promote the holistic development of our students in preparation for their unique spiritual, active responsible and engaged citizenship,” is entrenched. Our key performance indicators for this goal are: (i) student preference; (ii) holistic development; (iii) student wellness; (iv) caring teaching and learning environment; (v) safe and clean environment within an Islamic ethos of proficiency in everything we do.

We are also urged by Covid-19 to think differently and strategically about the future orientation of our institution. Our eyes have been opened to essential services that are needed to help human life. We can also play a role in that stage, to contribute to the Welfare State, the National Development Plan, 2030, a non-racist, non-sexist society and teach the original teachings of our Beloved Master Sayyidina Prophet Muhammad (sallala alahi wa aalihi wasalam), towards building better individuals, better communities and a peaceful, non-violent world.  We cannot be left behind. The world has space for us. With our tiny contribution together with our students, their parents and our partners, we can add to the “whole” and make our mark in transforming our societies.