Concerning Duties of Laborers

Sunday, February 26, 1961

1. The Minister is the head of the Mosque and is under the direct authority of the Messenger

2. The Captain and the Secretary are under the authority of the Minister and must go in accord with his instructions so long as they are certain that he is following the instructions of the Messenger. They are not to follow the instructions of any Minister who willfully and openly breaks the laws of The Messenger or seeks to change them without proper authorization.

3. The three of them (Minister, Captain, Secretary) must work together in perfect harmony and must NEVER show disagreement in front of the believers. They should all carry themselves in such a manner so that they can be approached by anyone who may be over them or under them.

4. The Minister is not to use his authority (pulling rank) on the Captain and Secretary unless it is absolutely necessary. In short, a Minister should seek to be and act in the same way to his laborers (Captain. and Secy.) as The Messenger acts towards his Ministers and laborers.

5. "A laborers we should be willing to take instructions and advice from anyone. Be intelligent enough to take the good and leave the bad". The Messenger stated he himself has listened to much advice from his followers and used the good and discarded the bad without hurting anyone's feeling and make them feel as though they could not tell him anything.

6. We must strive for peace and harmony among the believers and never turn anyone against us by being overly harsh. Harshness makes enemies. If we, as laborers, happen to get into some difficulty, then those whom we have wronged or hurt will be the first to say, "good enough for him. He never wants anyone to tell him anything".

7. In dealing with the believers, we must instilling in them the desire to "want to do" rather than force them to do.

8. Keep the Mosque affairs out of the reach of the ordinary believers. Be discreet in handling Mosque affairs. Never let any Muslim know that there is any disagreement among the officials regardless to the circumstances.

9.  The Minister is in complete charge of the Mosque and is therefore free to come to any meeting held in the Mosque. Whenever he comes into them, his authority must be recognized. If he attends the FOI and he observes that the Captain isn't doing his job properly, then the Minister is within his authority to instruct the Captain or even take charge of the meeting and do it himself. He may also teach any of the classes in the FOI meeting that he wants to or have the ability to perform.

10. The Minister's job is to deliver the message and oversee the Mosque. The Captain's duty is to implement the Minister's plans for the Mosque. The Secretary must keep the records and work in conjunction with the Captain to put the program over. Actually, the three of them should be working together so hard until they should not have time to see or worry about who is the boss. If everyone does his job, then they would not have time for such.

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