We, the undersigned, hereby submit the following letter to the MAB Bolingbrook Board of Directors.

For years, our community has benefited from the teachings and contributions of Mawlana Arif Kamal as the resident scholar. Recently, the newly elected Masjid board attempted to modify the terms and conditions of his services leading to his "sudden" resignation.

As demonstrated by the overwhelming response to our prior petition (Petition #1), a significant portion of the community considers the departure of Mawlana Arif and loss of his contributions to be significantly detrimental. 

On Sunday Nov 3rd, the board provided an update that they were "shocked" at Mawlana Arif's departure and provided verbal assurances that the Board wanted Mawlana Arif's tenure to continue and never been disrespectful to Mawlana Arif. This was the sum & substance of the Board's position.

Subsequently, upon ascertaining testimonies from individuals affiliated with the matter and perusing written records, it emerged that:

(1) The Board was involved in revising Mawlana Arif's contract for the past few weeks, during which they had received clear and unambiguous indication that he may resign due to his discomfort with the direction the Board was taking. This is contrary to the Board's statement of "being shocked".

(2) Various events during the negotiations (beyond the scope of this document) demonstrate that the Board had an adversarial posture towards Mawlana Arif and conditions were being created to sabotage, as opposed to facilitate his tenure. This is contrary to the Board's outwardly claim that "they want Mawlana Arif to stay". 

(3) President Harris Sheikh had used derogatory words, contrary to the Board's claim that no disrespect had occurred. 

In addition, when questioned by congregants, Board members (in particular President Harris Sheikh),  displayed evasiveness, hid facts under the guise of unspecified (and untrue) "legalities", displayed short temperament and exhibited unprofessional behavior towards congregants asking questions.

In light of all the above, the community has concluded that the Board deliberately created unfavorable conditions for Mawlana Arif and subsequently attempted to obfuscate the true nature of events through half-truths, omissions of fact and the like.

We consider this a serious and deliberate violation of at least two of our institution's by-laws below (with other potential violations being evaluated)

ARTICLE 14.1

(a) All affairs of MAB shall be conducted in a transparent manner.

(b) The board of Directors shall be accountable to the General Body for their individual and collective actions.

This course of action taken by the Board has resulted in a loss of trust and confidence in the Board's (in particular President Harris Sheikh's) ability to

(a) Speak truthfully

(b) Act sincerely in the interest of the community.  

Given that the purpose of the Board is to serve the community (and not the other way around) and this Board has acted contrary to that purpose, we see no benefit in this Board continuing to operate with the current membership; The current Board has neither the respect, nor the trust nor the good will of much of the community and their conduct has proven detrimental to the majority of the community's desires and interests.

Thus, we unequivocally recommend that this Board resign.