2. Working Paper series NMF Spring Conference, Birmingham. 7 Jumadal Awwal, 1430 AH (2 May 2009).

3. Our Allah-Given Opportunities Diversities; Allah-given individual talents Exposure to advanced Knowledge and skills in different fields; Being able to see Nigeria from afar Being able to appreciate the level of our development Islamic-wise and otherwise. Blessed with Allah’s tawfeeq in the midst of several qualified millions.

4. Observations The online discussions are not well coordinated—who leads the discussion? Some of the postings personal discussions of individuals which should be shared by those concerned; Most of the postings could be sourced on the web without being a subscriber to NMF; Most of the postings are ideas, works of other people which we are circulating; The forum is made of intellectuals in almost all spheres of life Very few of the postings are original ideas; Very few are problem-solving; Reactionarism: the bane of the Ummah This Ummah needs thinkers to take it to the next levels of which this forum is blessed with.

5. Proposal The forum discussions should have a leader who would be coordinating the discussions Period should be allocated to posting of views to a particular topic; The leader should bring the discussion to a close after the expiration of the period, say one week or two; The leader should collate all the views; Individual postings should be original ideas related to the topic; Topics should be problem-solving for the myriads of problems facing our nation; Suggestion of topic should go directly to the leader who will decide when to raise it for comments, contributions and views of subscribers; Our quarterly conferences should be used for the presentation of the reports of the various online discussions from where a blue print on that topic is taken back home for implementation by members or suggested to those at the helms of affairs; Topics should be related to Nigeria as a whole.

6. Suggested topics (1) Poverty alleviation: Cultivating thrift spending Illiteracy—boosting the Muslims literacy level Alternative energy sources for Nigeria Boosting Nigerian Muslim farmers productivity Muslim dominance of the Nigerian mass-media space Muslim dominance of the health sector through prophetic preventive medicine Entrenching accountability and transparency in our body politics Muslim participation in civil society Entrenching respect for human rights in our body politics Checking the menace of corruption in all spheres of public lives. Evolving hassle-free Hajj operations Making the mosques more effective and efficient

7. Suggested topics (2) Reaching the unreached in the Non-Muslim dominated regions of Nigeria (SE, SS, NC and so on) Water for all by 1440 AH Takaful (Islamic insurance) Islamic Banking Muslim dominance of the education sector (take-over of ASUU) Evolving a service-oriented civil or public service; Eradicating racism, ethnicism and tribalism among Nigerian Muslims Uniform Moon sighting Muslim dominance of the legal landscape Muslim IT literacy Boosting Muslim reading culture Muslim dominance of the home video industry Parenting without tears Repeating the achievements of Umar bin Abdul Azeez again! Mentoring the talented and gifted young Muslims Boosting the artisanship and vocational skills of the Muslims

8. Methodology Working in team-oriented manners along specialisation line; Specialisation could be grouped along medicine, business, art, education, technology, IT, engineering; Identify your mentee back home; Your contribution might outlive you. 036.012 إِنَّا نَحْنُ نُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَنَكْتُبُ مَا قَدَّمُوا وَآثَارَهُمْ وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أحْصَيْنَاهُ فِي إِمَامٍ مُبِينٍ 036.012 Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before and that which they leave behind, and of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence). Al-Qur'an, 036.012 (Ya-Seen [Ya-Seen])

9. Your comments