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The World Federation is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations
Vision Statement
The World Federation
exists to achieve the
pleasure of Allah SWT by
developing spiritual and
vibrant communities
serving humanity
Mission Statement
The World Federation
enables its member institutions
to promote the
values and practices of the
Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri
Faith for the spiritual and
material well being of
humanity at large
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For a better future: The journey of the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community
Updated 20 February 2013
 At the 4th EXCO meeting for the Term 2011-2014 held in Madagascar in November 2012, the Generation Plan Resolution was passed. Read the resolution.
Shan E Abbas Hassam, Secretary General of The World Federation shares his message to the community and is requesting the opinions and feedback of community members worldwide. He writes:
“Our community has transformed irreversibly. The needs, challenges and anxieties of our forefathers when they left the ports of Porbander in the late 19th Century were of a very different kind. At that stage, our forefathers were focussed on relieving their economic hardships. Immigration from India to East Africa was a forced one - in search of relief from the famine in India which affected our community significantly. As many of our forefathers travelled towards Africa, they did so to start a new life and eventually found differing levels of prosperity. Our forefathers were conscious of the need to retain our faith, our language and our culture and so formed close-knit communities. That mind-set of retaining our faith and culture must continue to exist today. Against all the odds in this strange new land, they formed institutions 'Jamaats', then the Africa Federation and then The World Federation of KSIMC. Not only did they (and still do) provide religious services but often social services, welfare support, networking opportunities and importantly an atmosphere of commonality and brotherhood.
Furthermore, the next generation from Africa and indeed from Pakistan and elsewhere then continued this process of migration; with our community members settling in Europe, North America, Dubai and other s scattered into other developed countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and even Brazil. What is quite clear is that our community has, to some extent, managed to keep a strong sense of identity, religious vigour and brotherhood. However, in today's 21st Century, our community that has adapted through all the challenges it has faced, will need to continue to adapt in order to survive. Furthermore, it is important to point out that the modern society has brought with it a multiplicity of challenges that we can only ignore at our peril. So how will our Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community survive in the 21st century and beyond?
For us to survive, prosper and maintain the vibrancy of our community then we will have no choice but to continue adapting: a trait of our forefathers. But to do this, it is important for a period of reflection to occur.
Imam Ali (AS) has said: 'Success is the result of foresight and resolution, foresight depends upon deep thinking and planning...'
It is high time that we focus our energies in reflecting on the global context in which we survive and for us to think strategically. We must build upon the good work and the thinking of the Strategic Plan which began in 2003 and indeed create a plan for the next 20 years - 'A Generational Plan.' For The World Federation to do this, a full survey (or indeed census) of our community is needed. Although our institutions have done wonderful work for the community, a global set of data has been never been recorded to analyse our population and to create policies based on that data. A detailed global survey will help us understand the make-up of our community: its health, prosperity, spiritual needs and social problems. It will help us assess the social and living conditions of our community. Its results will be an essential tool for effective policy making and planning; most importantly it will help our institutions create this 'Generational Plan.'
Simply put, this 'Generational Plan' is one which need to help us understand our context and to adapt for the future. It will help our institutions make long term commitments and agree on a common direction forward in many areas. It will help re-energise our leadership and create clarity on the fundamental actions, programmes and areas which we need to concentrate on.
I have therefore brought in a team at The World Federation (a mix of youthful volunteers and experienced community workers) that will first focus on creating a survey/census for our community. We will need the support of The Regional Federations and Jamaats in order to gain as many answers from our community members. The more data we will receive, the more accurate the global survey/census will be. Not only will a full questionnaire be needed but qualitative data (by gathering a sample of interviews from community members will also be required). Our leadership must be made aware of this historic and mammoth task. Not only will financial resources be needed, but a full cadre of volunteers across The World Federation and the Regional Federations.
From this data collection exercise, we will ask the next Conference to create a team to assess and analyse the data to create a 'Generation Plan' for our institutions for the next 20 years. I fervently believe that our institutions must be focussed, unified in their approach and clear on the direction of the community. We cannot do this without fully understanding the community's needs and current context globally and thoroughly. However, once this has been done thoroughly, we mustn't be ashamed of creating long-term programmes that will help bring our community forward.
Let us thank Allah (SWT) for the resources and intellectual capacity that He has placed in our community, for the values He has entrenched in our institutions and for the Tawfeeq He has given the fortunate few to serve. “
For further information email secretariat@world-federation.org
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