The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, AFIC, also known with its brand name “Muslims Australia” has been subjected to internal rivalries and external attacks during the last few months.
Some of its schools established and run by AFIC in all major cities of Australia have also been suffering from infighting amongst the school board members and have come under the scrutiny of the Australian education authorities.
AFIC including its Schools has recently been subjected to a barrage of attacks, some anonymous, laden with a variety of criticisms against its committees, office bearers and employees for alleged corruption, nepotism and mismanagement.
AFIC in any case still remains the only viable umbrella organisation representing Australian Muslims. During its 50 year history, AFIC has succeeded over these long years in establishing 8 schools around Australia (6 with one having 3 campuses making a total of 8).
These schools currently provide education to nearly 7000 Muslim children from the Kindergarten level to year 12 and have produced a very large number of high achievers amongst the year 12 graduates over the years who have entered the top university courses and become pillars of Australian society.
These schools have shown that if one takes away discrimination and Islamophobia and provide quality education, then our children can do just as well as the children who go to the much more expensive private schools.
Schools are only some of AFIC’s proud achievements during its long history of half a century. It has led the way in Halal certification, establishment and support of mosques and Imams and the promotion of a better understanding of Islam not only in Australia, but in other countries as well.
There is no doubt that AFIC is currently going through some serious hurdles and needs to reinvent itself and excel above the challenges it currently faces.
Over the past eight years AFIC and its schools have faced some very difficult challenges. At the forefront of these challenges are the entrenched committees, office bearers, school board members and some staff resisting to let go and make room for new blood.
Instead of taking a break or bowing out gracefully, many of these individuals are clinging to their positions and have embarked on a destructive campaign of defamation and destabilization due to infighting and ongoing court cases.
More recently, changes to school boards, rather than being addressed through internal mechanisms of checks and balances, have been taken to courts, government and media with devastating consequences for AFIC, its schools, students, parent and the general Muslim community at large.
However, it is a fact that the government audit did highlight some serious problems that needed to be addressed by various AFIC School administrations. A reading of the audit report clearly shows that the bulk of these serious problems were the responsibility of school boards and contract staff.
There is no doubt that AFIC itself and its various school administrations need to be reconstituted and reorganized with the appointment of competent and impartial voluntary as well as paid staff whose selection should be transparent and based on merit, without vested interests. The old guard needs to let go.
Concerned and competent members of the Muslim community cannot afford to be silent observers or merely criticize AFIC as outsiders, but must come forward to contribute in saving this Australian national Muslim asset.
Yes the schools must be saved but I doubt AFIC is worth saving. For decades it has been split with division and infighting by various people pushing their own agendas and feathering their own nests. They have manipulated membership and elections and have used the schools as cash cows. They have set up and tried to destroy state level Islamic councils as well as suspending their membership to control who runs AFIC. They have thrown community money against the wall fighting each other in pointless and vindictive legal cases.
If AFIC is to be saved it needs a root and branch clean out from the local level all the way to the top. The old guard has to go and a properly representative organisation has to replace it. However I doubt that will happen so long as the current executive and its unelected managers remain super-glued to their plush seats.
The schools are a separate matter. They are definitely worth saving but this is only possible if they are free of AFIC’s tentacles. They need local management with strong parental involvement and experienced education professionals in charge. Most importantly for their survival they need control over their own funds. I see nothing wrong with them co-operating as a group on issues such as lobbying government and common curriculum development. In fact given that there are probably more Islamic schools operating outside of AFIC’s clutches they should join these in working for common goals. Something I know from talking to Muslim educators AFIC fought actively against because it couldn’t access and control the management and finances of these independent schools. This if anything is proof that AFIC does not operate with the best interests of the Muslim community at heart.
The best outcome recently was the Education Department’s action which forced AFIC to cede powers of the schools board to independent members, freeing them form the clutches AFIC and
kiiling the “AFIC cash cows”. (schools that AFIC plundered).
The ongoing court case between AFIC and Muslims N.S.W. inc. proves that the old guards do not want to let go and will fight tooth & nail at all costs to hold on to power to feather their own nest.
munAFIC:
Among the characteristics of hypocrites are those which were described by the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):
“There are four (characteristics), whoever has all of them is a complete hypocrite, and whoever has some of them has some element of hypocrisy, unless he gives it up: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a treaty, he betrays it; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; when he quarrels, he resorts to insults.”(Narrated by Muslim, 53)
https://islamqa.info/en/12387