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The Muslim Family Campaign 2009 organized a session to develop mediators and guidance counselors in family issues, which was attended by many of those interested in family affairs from the member organizations of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe.
The session commenced with verses from the Holy Qur’an recited by Sheikh Omar Hassan El Khedrawy from Ireland. This was followed by a speech from Mr.Ibrahim Belkelany who spoke on behalf of Mr.Chakib Bin Makhlouf the Head of the Muslim Family Campaign. The speech focused on the importance of building the family unit, and its effect on social conditioning, which is a scientific social fact as well as being endorsed by religion and found in the teachings of Islam. This puts a dual responsibility on the Muslims of Europe, the first being to protect the family and preserve its Muslim identity, and the second being to positively introduce the system of the Muslim family from the Islamic perspective. The speech also reiterated the benefit of the Muslim Family Campaign that was initiated by the Federation of Islamic Organizations this year. It is worthy to note that the campaign has already proved effective and beneficial in all European regions.
This was followed by an introduction from the supervisor of the session Sheikh Salem Al Shaikhy, who explained its objectives, and focused on the example of Britain where the circle of mediators was more established and broadened in family counseling, which is enforced by the Islamic perspective, whereby the mediators and counselors play the role of adjudicators. Sheikh Salem also stressed that the project of the marital charter, which was the main topic of the session, was built on sound scientific and practical experience first and foremost, and not on abstract or theoretical basis. This fact lends great importance to the project, since it is the result of 12 years of experience in the field of family issues. Benefiting from European thought, the charter was drafted as a sample to facilitate its practical implementation.
Sheikh Salem coupled in his presentation of the marital charter between the educational method based on proof from Shari`ah and the scientific method which was endorsed by various sciences relevant to family issues. In his presentation during the session Sheikh Salem also combined between explanations and dialogue and the sharing of expertise and methodology for workshops, which created an animated and interactive environment for the session.
Using statistics, Sheikh Salem pointed out the danger of the current situation of the Muslim family in Europe, especially the new generation, whereby the percentage of problems which were presented to the relevant authorities of Shari`ah reached a staggering 80%. Based on his long standing experience in the field of family issues, Sheikh Salem believes that this is due to a misunderstanding of the marital rights which constitute the basis on which a happy Muslim family life is built. This basis also carries with it a group of necessities and enhancements which include seven elements: element of faith, emotional element, psychological element, physical element, moral element, scientific and intellectual element and the social element.
If the family is going through problems which are attacking this base, then they require great effort to solve, and if they continue then continuing the marriage becomes difficult. However, if problems are arising due to issues in the necessities and enhancements, then solutions are easier, even though there is a lot of ignorance in this area, in the presence of such problems marital life can become cold, and there are specific methods to solve such problems.
In the session Sheikh Salem stressed that the success of a mediator lay in his being able to draw an accurate map based on the sample of the marital charter, whereby the mediator records the data pertaining to each division or element of the sample. Through this process the mediator can define the reasons and dimensions of the problem in the marriage and be able to present suitable solutions. Sheikh Salem claimed that based on previous experience the marriage charter sample was able to help solve many marital disputes, and consequently he encourages that it be used as the sample to build a happy Muslim home. The success of the sample has led to it being used by many specialized judicial circles in Britain who tackle family issues. Sheikh Salem hoped that the session would lead to a sharing of experience and expertise and the further establishment of the charter in Islamic circles in Europe and its introduction to European authorities.
The session was concluded with a three hour workshop, where the participants were split up into four groups and asked to answer the following question:
What are the seven most prominent suggestions to introduce and spread awareness of the family charter?
In his conclusion of the workshop Sheikh Salem depended on both written brainstorming and impartial groups, whereby each participant would write a suggestion on a piece of paper and pass it on to the next participant who would write his suggestion and so on. Finally the group would choose seven of the suggestions to share with all the other attendees. Sheikh Salem called for having a signature document added to all the other marriage documents which showed that the charter had been read and understood. He also promised that the final draft of the charter would be completed and made into a book that would crown the Muslim Family Campaign for 2009.
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