The Journey of life, its paths & destinations

 

I went for a walk in a nearby Valley Park. This comes after some emotional and thoughtful weeks after the sudden death of a university sister. I worked with her in the Leicester University Islamic Society, which I presided over 24 years ago. She died from an illness that she hid from her closest. Her death shocked all who knew her and worked with her.

 

She was loyal, shy, caring and principled. After leaving University, she took on her family business and expanded it. Many remember her conduct with family, employees, suppliers, and customers. She was a role model for many, and many relied on her for her leadership and the selfless care she gave to them.

 

Her death invoked memories among the group of her university friends. Although it had been 24 years since I had met or spoken to her, it also made me revisit my steps back then.

 

As I walked through the park, I contemplated my life journey. Strangely, the changing scenery and paths around me started to talk to me in my imaginary world. I began to paint a picture in my mind of my life journey.

 

This path led to other paths; sometimes, I took the wrong turn, turned back, and chose another path. This reminded me that our lives take similar paths and turns.

 

I started my walk in the park by choosing a path with a target destination: Swan Lake. This path led to other paths; sometimes, I took the wrong turn, turned back, and chose another path. This reminded me that our lives take similar paths and turns. After University, I took a path and made decisions that dictated my next 24 years. I started to revisit and question my paths as my memories returned to those moments 24 years ago.

 

The weight of the “what if” moments started to play heavily on my chest as if failures of lost opportunities underpinned my worldly successes.

 

Allhamdulillah, I may have had a promising career and life that many may desire. I discussed this in a recent radio interview (see link below). Yet, my mind started questioning this for all the paths I could have taken, the lost opportunities, and the many achievements that could have been different and perhaps better. The weight of the “what if” moments started to play heavily on my chest as if failures of lost opportunities underpinned my worldly successes.

 

I felt sadness and pain as I walked and crossed different paths. This was not about personal wealth but the impact on broader society and infrastructure.

 

Was I lost in my life journey? I questioned myself as I continued my walk. Lost in my thoughts, the path opened to my set destination. It is a beautiful lake with stunning majestic swans gliding through the water under a clear blue sky, making everything clear to observe and enjoy.

 

 

A painful reality hit me as I sat on the bench to soak in the moment, processing my thoughts. The sister’s death reminded me of the temporary nature of this destination, this world, these life paths that we choose to walk on, these destinations that we set ourselves, and all our life struggles. It all eventually dies and moves on.

 

What is left after we are gone is what matters. What matters are the memories of the moments we live, the impact we have on the lives of others, and how they remember us, just like the memories of this sister.

 

What is left after we are gone is what matters. What matters are the memories of the moments we live, the impact we have on the lives of others, and how they remember us, just like the memories of this sister. We remember her legacy, kindness, principles, leadership, and caring nature.

 

This realisation influenced me and replaced my immediate memory of my path choices. I remembered the sounds of the birds chirping, the cool breeze, the happiness of people who walked past me, and the kindness of the old couple who warned me of some rough paths ahead. I concluded that it is not the choices of the life paths that we take that matter; it’s what we do with them and how we conduct ourselves as we walk them that define us.

 

I revisited my life journey to find these moments. I was accompanied by a loving and caring wife, the childhood of my beautiful daughter, and our travels as a family, making every moment worth living for. During my professional work, solving and resolving problems in charities and successfully dealing with crises they find themselves in is an aspect of my life that matters, not career choices.

 

We may think we chose the wrong path or ended up in the incorrect destination—this does not matter, as it all ultimately dies. God decides our paths to test us.

 

We may think we chose the wrong path or ended up in the incorrect destination—this does not matter, as it all ultimately dies. God decides our paths to test us. We should focus on what stays and lives on: the memories and impact we leave on this temporary world. We need to fill our paths with these memories, regardless of the paths that we embark on.

 

Content with my conclusions, I returned to my car as if I had found a treasure in my quest as I remembered this special sister.

 

Having lived my old memories once more, one thoughtful memory braced me. A poetic verse of a famous Sufi poet, Altaf Hussain Hali. I read and memorized in Urdu as a kid. It went on something like this:

 

Valuable lessons are taught to us by graves.
We find this treasure from this burial.

 

I had found my treasure through the sad death of this special sister of ours. May Allah swt grant her the highest paradise. Ameen.

 

End.

 

Author: Nasir Rafiq is the Managing Partner of Dua Governance Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors. He is also a community leader and Chairs many initiatives and organizations.

He spoke about his career in a radio interview with local community radio station UnityFM. Man on a Mission – a Personal Story of Faith, Change and Impact (See link).

Dua Financial Standards for (all size) Charities

During the past decade the number of Muslim charities raising funds has increased. Smaller charities have become large and larger charities have become more complex. As the size and reach of charities increases, the need for better and robust financial governance significantly increases. It is only through this, donor monies can be protected and spent properly on charity projects the donors intended for.

 

In addition to donors, the banks and the Charity Commission take financial governance and anti-money laundering risks very seriously as well. When things go wrong, interventions from both can have an effect of impairing charity operations significantly.

 

Charity Commission interventions have sanctioned Trustees and CEOs and when Banks feel unfordable with financial governance they have closed bank accounts and / or stopped bank transfers to vital operations.

 

What does good financial governance look like in a small or large charity? – this is where wrong questions can result in wrong answers – Trustees, managers and donors sometime fall prey to this.

 

What does good financial governance look like in a small or large charity – this is where wrong questions can result in wrong answers – Trustees, Managers and Donors sometime fall for this.

 

Low or no overheads does not mean good financial governance and neither does a good marketing pictorial report on beneficiaries nor a slick emotional video shown by a fundraiser.

 

Donors have the right to ask questions as it is donor money at the end of the that becomes management salaries, admin costs and relief to beneficiaries.

However, these questions must be the right ones to ensure charities prepare the right answers.

 

The Dua Financial Governance Standards do exactly that – they provide a comprehensive and meaningful framework for the right questions and for charities a relevant standard through which they can demonstrate their governance.

 

The Dua Financial Governance Standards does that – provides a comprehensive and meaningful framework for the right questions and for charities a relevant standard through which they can demonstrate their governance.

 

There is lots of guidance already available online – the problem with much of this guidance is the lack of knowledge and experience how they should be applied. Not one size fits all. These various guides are often not tailored to the size or the charity risks. They often have an effect of identifying gaps the charity already knew existed.

 

Dua Standards

 

The Dua Standards helps charities demonstrate responsibility, create trust and transparency, and reduces risk of fraud, error & inefficiency.

 

The standards focus on four clear outcomes:

  1. The Trustees are adequately involved and accountable.

  2. High level financial controls are in place.

  3. The staff and skill dealing with finance are suitable

  4. The charitable spend including Zakat spend is adequately controlled

 

The outcomes are matched to a total of 18 criteria tailored to four different income sizes of charities. This ensures the standards remain relevant to income size and underlying risks of the charity.

Approach

 

The approach to assessing compliance to the standard is designed to also produce / recommend credible action plans where gaps are noted. These action plans help those charged with governance to steer the management and charity in the right direction.

 

The result is an improved and enhanced financial governance that protects donor monies and makes the monies reach and travel further for the charity beneficiaries worldwide.

 

Next steps

 

Email the team at Dua Governance info@duagovernance.com for further information and timings for an independent professional review. This will include a certification with a credible action plan for any gaps identified.