Five Essential Values For Building An Authentic Community 

“Make things easy for people, and do not make them difficult” 

-Prophet Muhammad, (Sahih al-Bukhari 69)

In our lives and dreams, despite the fast pace of our world and the deluge of information now easily available, many of us hold a deep yearning for the meaningful connection and communities we read about and celebrate in stories that come to us from what seem to be more straightforward times.

The security of knowing our neighbours well enough to call upon them for help at any time, the ability to ask for advice from those more experienced, the joy of observing our children learning from a teacher we respect and count upon, the knowledge that our successes will be honoured and our sad times uplifted by the prayers and well-honed practice of the group is an ideal that calls to our sacred need for one another.

Our faith reminds us, time and time again, that we are profoundly interconnected with one another and that our community is “one community” (Quran 21:92). But what happens when the traditional ways in which we come together to live, worship and help one another fall apart? Do we fall apart with them, or do we do what our community has always done? Which is to embrace the best of our world and circumstances in order to create a fresh approach dedicated to amplifying the values and traditions that raise and elevate us.

We vote for the latter. In order for our communities to thrive and be of service in this time and in this place, ImamConnect is committed to bridging the gaps in existing networks, facilitating beneficial connections and then fortifying them with the best practices of community building and marketplace transactions.

Trust

The essential ingredient for any healthy relationship and a founding principle of ImamConnect, building and maintaining trust within our marketplace is a foremost concern.

But we don’t expect you to simply trust us because we want you to. We know that trust needs to be evidenced and earned and we make sure that every single part of ImamConnect, from the application process to profile building, safe messaging and the secure payment platform all establish and inform us as a trustworthy space for finding and offering Muslim services - as dependable and honest as your favourite friend.

Accountability

Without accountability, any trust fostered is simply performative. At ImamConnect, we can do what is sorely lacking in other spaces. We can vouch for the qualifications and safety of our service providers. Every single service provider on ImamConnect, from counsellors to Qur’an teachers to inheritance advisors are checked and must have a current clean DBS and/or Criminal Background Check.

If we wouldn’t want it for ourselves, we don’t want it for our customers, and because of this, we’ve invested in a dedicated customer service team who are on hand to address any concerns that may arise.

Diversity

ImamConnect’s international team and global outlook brings to light the broad diversity within our Muslim community and does not, and will not, discriminate on basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, creed or disability.

For the first time, the ability to choose from sensitive and thoughtful service providers from various backgrounds, religious affiliations and schools of thought has never been as transparent or simple. Free yourself to find the perfect fit for your own individual situations, independent of, what can sometimes be, restrictive institutional structures.

Commitment

At first, commitment doesn’t seem all that different from trust or accountability but for us, it has a very specific intention - and that is the commitment to ensuring that Muslim service providers, across all categories but particularly Islamic ones, are fairly compensated for their qualifications, skills and experiences. Imams and classically trained Islamic studies teachers and advisors are especially at risk of having their services undervalued and underappreciated.

ImamConnect seeks to uplift the standards and incomes of Muslim service providers by fostering a world-wide community for them to connect to, making their offerings as accessible as possible and ensuring that those engaging their services do so in the context of respect and reliability.

Ease

No more random calls to friends asking for a recommendation, searching around the mosque message boards or waiting for texts and attempting to cross reference other peoples experiences with your own. Anytime, day or night, weekday or weekend, in between meetings or playdates, ImamConnect is the easiest, most reliable way to find and book the services you need or offer the services you have.

It has to be easy, not only because we are commanded to make things easy for others, but because we believe that the very things that bring value and inspiration to our lives shouldn’t be difficult.

ImamConnect extends, both in person and online, the community we all dream of being part of - one that helps one another, brings people together in every stage of life and circumstance, that values each member for their own unique skills and that facilitates healthy, dependable and enriching connections.

We aren’t only a neighbourhood connector, nor are we simply a global online network: we are the link between the two and we’re here to improve both spaces and how they operate in your own life. Ultimately, we’ll help you get what you need to build the meaningful life that you want. Bismillah.