We, the Muslims of Miyazaki Prefecture have agreed to and have adopted the present constitution and do hereby establish an organization to be known as Miyazaki Muslim Students Association hereinafter called MMSA.
ARTICLE 1
Name, Aims and Purposes
SECTION 1.
The name of Association is Miyazaki Muslim Students Association, herein mentioned as MMSA, for sake of brevity. The MMSA is a non-profit organization at the Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Our main concern, and our over-riding aim is to gain the pleasure of Allah, and avoid His displeasure. We have three main paths through which we try to earn the pleasure of Allah.
(a) We seek to educate and train Muslims in the Deen of Islam. The basic goal of our education programs is in essence to provide the opportunity to gain the knowledge, and receive the understanding of the religion that will help one in entering into a complete state of worship for Allah (SWT).
(b) We seek to provide an organizational platform to invite people of other religions and idealogies to the worship of the one true God, and the messengership of the last and final messenger to humanity, Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
(c) We seek to provide services that will facilitate living an Islamic life in the academic environment. Any activities or programs we undertake, we try in some form or another to get closer to accomplishing these three goals, and ultimately in pleasing Allah (SWT), and earning His paradise.
SECTION 2.
The Association shall maintain an office at the premises of the Mosque.
ARTICLE II
Affiliation
SECTION 1.
The Association shall be affiliated with the Japan Islamic Center in Tokyo and another Muslim Students' Association in Japan. The Association may not undertake any activity that violates the Islamic standards of the constitution and by-laws of the Japan.
ARTICLE III
Membership
SECTION 1.
All Muslim student who live in Miyazaki Prefecture shall automatically be a member of MMSA. Nobody, however, can be forced to participate in its activities.The membership of the Association shall consist of "members" and "honorary members."
SECTION 2.
A member shall be any Muslim students who has paid the required dues, wishes to be the member of the Association, and agrees to obey the constitution and the generally-accepted practices of the Association.
An honorary member shall be any Muslims interested in the MMSA and the Islamic activities.
ARTICLE IV
Office Bearers
SECTION 1.
The elected officers shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
SECTION 2.
The Executive Committee shall consist of the elected officers and the term of the Executive Committee shall be one Hijra year starting Muharam 1st, of that year until Zul-Hijjah 29th of the following year.
SECTION 3.
General Election shall be held during the second half of Zul-Hijjah every year to facilitate smooth and cooperative transition of authority.
SECTION 4.
The President shall be responsible for:
a. The general management of all the activities of the Association.
b. Directing and coordinating of all the activities so as to achieve the purpose of the
Association.
c. Calling and presiding over meetings of the Executive Committee and the General
Body.
d. Forming various Ad Hoc committees with the approval of the Executive Committee.
e. Controlling funds and expenses of the Association
f. Being the spokesman, representative and correspondent for the Association in
external activities.
g. Establishing an efficient link between the association and Japan Islamic Center and
also between the other Muslim Student Association.
SECTION 5.
The Vice-President shall be responsible for:
a. Carrying out the management of the activities in the chapter, in the absence of the
President.
b. Directing and coordinating the activities.
c. Assisting the President in accomplishing the purpose of the Association.
d. Temporarily assuming the functions of the President when requested as such by him,
or if the President is incapacitated. In the latter case, the Vice-President shall assume
Presidency for the remaining period of the term.
e. Directing and supervising all arrangements for celebration of religious festivals and social programs such as picnics, dinners, lectures on Islamic topics, etc.
f. Informing the members about the time, place and details of the festivals and social
events through the Secretary.
SECTION 6.
The Secretary shall be responsible for:
a. Reporting the important events and activities of the Association periodically.
b. Preparing, circulating within thirty days and maintaining the minutes of all the
Executive and General Body meetings.
c. Preparing the agenda for the Executive Committee and General Body meetings and
notifying the members of the Executive Committee and the General Body,
respectively, of it.
d. Maintaining the list of members and the volunteers for various functions of the
Association.
e. Directing and supervising the activities of the various committees.
f. Presiding over the Executive Committee meetings when both the President and the
Vice-president are absent.
g. Posting on the bulletin board in the Mosque and in the mailing list a list of the
members with their names, addresses and telephon numbers, and up-dating the list at
least once in a period of three months (except there is no change).
h. Posting on the bulletin board in the Mosque and in the mailing list a list of members
eligible to vote in the election.
i. Preparing circulars, bulletins and newsletters and presenting them before the
Executive Committee for its approval.
j. Editing and publishing literature on behalf of the Association.
SECTION 7.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for:
a. Maintaining the record of all the financial transactions of the Association. He
shall be responsible for systematic up-keep of books and writing disbursements, receipts, banking, reconciliations and showing of increase of funds in statements to be made public.
b. Collecting and depositing all the funds received on behalf of the Association.
c. Preparing, on being elected, the annual budget of the Association for the next fiscal year in consultation with the newly elected Executive Committee.
SECTION 8.
The decision on each and every matter in the Executive Committee meeting shall be reached in a parliamentary way, with each member of the Executive Committee present in meeting voting on the matter. The President may exercise veto against simple
majority. However, 2/3 majority of the members present, not counting the President or the member presiding in his absence shall override any presidential veto. The President, or the member presiding in his absence, shall not vote in any election nor shall his vote be counted. The members not attending the meeting shall not be able to vote on any issue.
ARTICLE V
FINANCES
SECTION 1.
Association dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
SECTION 2.
All funds collected for a specific cause shall be used for that cause unless a 2/3 majority vote of the members authorizes its use for a different purpose within the goals and objectives of the Association; however, the funds collected for the specific purpose
of expanding or maintaining the Mosque shall not be used for any other purpose.
ARTICLE VI
Advisory Boards
SECTION 1.
The Advisory Boards shall consist of maximum five members of the Association. All of them shall be nominated by the executive committee. None of them shall be a member of the executive committee.
SECTION 2.
The Chairperson of the Advisory Boards shall be elected every years by the theirs members.
SECTION 3.
The term of a Advisory Boards shall be one year, after which he can be renominated.
SECTION 4.
The Board shall be responsible for:
a. Finding ways and means of raising funds for the Association.
b. Overseeing the general activities of the Association to ensure that they are within the framework of the constitution.
SECTION 5.
If a Advisory Boards resigns or leaves the area prior to the expiration of his term, the remaining Trust Members shall co-opt another member for the remaining tenure of his term with the consent of the executive committee.
SECTION 6.
The Chairperson of the Advisory Boards shall be responsible for :
a. Calling and presiding over advisory meetings;
b. Being the spokesperson, representative and correspondent for advisory activities;
ARTICLE VII
Elections
SECTION 1.
Annual elections shall be held on the second half of Zul-Hijjah every year in order to elect the Executive Committee for the following year.
SECTION 2.
The elections shall be conducted by an Election Committee comprising two members nominated by the Executive Committee.
SECTION 3.
The nomination for the elections must reach the Elections Committee two weeks before the specified time for election. The exact time of elections shall be announced by the Election Committee.
SECTION 4.
The nominators as well as the seconders of the nominations shall be members of the Association.
SECTION 5.
The nominee for each post shall be a member who has not been holding the same post for two consecutive terms including the current year.
SECTION 6.
A member who has not paid his/her annual membership dues within three months of the day of election and who was not a member of the Association in the previous year shall have no right to vote in the election.
SECTION 7.
All the election officers shall have the right to vote as members.
ARTICLE VIII
Ad Hoc Committees
SECTION 1.
The General Body of the Association during a General Body meeting and/or the executive committee at any other time may appoint an Ad Hoc Committee in order to carry out an assignment. The tenure of these committees may vary from a fraction of an hour to more than a year, depending upon the nature of the assignment.
The assignment given to the Ad Hoc Committee shall be precisely defined in a memorandum from the Executive Committee to the Ad Hoc Committee, a copy of which shall be posted on the bulletin board in the Mosque/Islamic Center. The limit on the expenditure, if any, that may be incurred in carrying out the assignment, shall be specified in the memorandum.
SECTION 2.
The Chairperson of the Committee shall be elected by the Committee and shall call, preside over, and adjourn the Committee meetings and plan and conduct the Committee's work.
SECTION 3.
The Committee shall be allowed to continue its work uninterrupted by anybody till it completes the assignment for which it was formed. Only the President of the Association or Chairperson of the Committee shall dismiss the Committee after the assignment has been accomplished and he has submitted to the President a
report to that effect.
SECTION 4.
None of the Committees shall by-pass the Executive Committee in calling General Body meetings.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds
