February 12, 2021, Cotabato City – Inner-city reactions to easing up restrictions on community assembly in churches and mosques are generally favorable given suburban needs for covid-vaccine initiatives. Undoubtedly it is corollary to preparedness needs for the Catholic Lent season, as it is a month away for the Islamic Ramadan nightly prayers (tarawih), and for the community of learners as well to connect to the real world.
“Nothing feels quite new normal than being able to come regularly to salat–ul–jumat” said senior officers of the Mindanao People’s Da’wah Council (MPDC) in reference to the Friday congregational prayer. Led by Datu Ahmad Tucao Mastura, they turned over on Friday, February 5 a newly built imam’s residence and office (See Related Story on FB). On Friday, February 12, al-Jumiyyah al-Khairiah installed in simple ceremony a new mosque management committee and imam of al-Burhan Mosque center in which SKIA standard madrasah system is annexed at General Luna Street, Barangay RH-4, in Cotabato City. “A new generation of imam and hafiz (with ability to commit to memory the entire Qu’ran) constitutes the committee” said Haji Saleh Blah, a retired government official, adding “currently our Man-Com includes community volunteers and experienced professional administrators.”
As chief trustee in behalf of the dedicators, Datu Michael O. Mastura named Masjid al-Burhan in Cotabato City together with Masjid al-Khairiah in Cebu City and Masjid al-Qudrah in Sultan Kudarat town among a dozen more in other provinces and cities “a legacy in growth for the endowed mosque-madrasah complex” with lifelong impact on modern school campus. “The making of a waqf is identical to a bequest or legacy. The Arabic word “waqf” spelled wakaf locally signifies a pious charity in perpetuity with proximity to God as an ultimate purpose of the dedicator (wakif)”, the Muslim lawyer expert elaborated.
The Sultan Kudarat Islamic Academy (SKIA) mosque-madrasah complex was made an institutional beneficiary of awqah (pl. form of waqf) by prominent al-Muhairi brothers and al-Dhaheri family in UAE thirty years ago in 1991. At age 80-years old, the chief trustee recalls at inception His Excellency Sheik Suror Al-Nahayan entrusted him personally with al-Muhairi brothers endowed mosque-building and scholarship funds that have taken institutional shape as a legacy over decades. Today, the awqah is marked with growth alongside comingled charity in trust of Datu Ahmad Tucao, Datu Armando, and Datu Michael who are the principal benefactors of the Mastura Brothers Endowed Scholarship at SKIA College.
Meanwhile, educators at SKIA College believe in coming together for congregational prayers to open up opportunities for student support services to privately-run universities, colleges and schools. Changes in the self-perception of parenting advocacy and volunteering involve the ability of being an active individual in society for campus early recovery—not just amidst the pandemic but afterwards.
Given both key environmental factors that exert facilitative learning and social networks influencing the “hidden curriculum” such changes have direct impact on “time-to-degree” audit program in higher education. Some parents in BARM who remain in anonymity claim: “We have become increasingly interested in the audit system as the costs of education outpace our family incomes.” The act of foundation for colleges traditionally affiliated with mosques and churches or religious denominations has always been augmented by patronage and benefaction, which takes a contemporary form in philanthropic endowment for corporate social responsibility.
