UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ISLAMIC SOCIETY
Constitution
In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
Preamble
Article A - Aims and Objectives
Article B – Membership and Subscriptions
Article C – Structure
Article D – Annual General Meeting
Article E – Open General Meeting
Article F – Finance
Preamble
The name of the body shall be ‘University of Cambridge Islamic Society’ hereinafter referred to as ‘CUISoc’ or ‘ISoc’ or ‘the Society’.
Article A – Aims and Objectives
A.1 Mission: The University of Cambridge Islamic Society strives to create an environment of unity whilst catering to the academic, social and spiritual needs of Muslim students and encourages learning and discussion about Islam amongst its members and the wider community.
A.2 The aims and objectives shall be:
i. to support Muslim members of the University
ii. to encourage them to practice Islam
iii. to promote a positive image and understanding of Islam
iv. to develop activities to encourage Muslim students to engage with the CUISoc
v. to strive to always act in accordance with the injunctions of the Holy Qur’an and the sunnah
Article B – Membership and Subscriptions
B.1 Any University of Cambridge student or member of staff is eligible to join CUISoc as a member, which entails addition to the Soc-cuiss mailing list by the society Secretary. Membership is free of charge.
B.2 Any other member of the public who is not a member of the University may join the CUISoc as an ‘affiliate member’ at the discretion of the Secretary. They are free to attend and engage in society events subject to the rules and traditions of the society but have no voting rights conferred upon them.
B.3 Only full society members may vote on any CUISoc matter. A member must be a member of the Society at least three weeks prior to a vote to be eligible to partake in it.
B.4 CUISoc is affiliated to and a member of Cambridge University Students’ Union. It will also work closely with organisations that enable CUISoc to pursue its aims as detailed in article A2.
B.5 Membership may be terminated at any time by written request to the Secretary. Any assets belonging to the CUISoc held by this member must be returned within 7 days of membership termination having been confirmed.
Article C - Structure
C.1 The Society will function at three levels: the Shura, the Committee and the Ordinary Members.
C.2 Shura is the executive committee of CUISoc. It consists of:
i. President: the head of the society. They are the spokesperson of and are responsible for the management of the Society and make the final decision on all matters, with due deference to the opinions of the other Shura members. The President engages with key stakeholders such as Cambridge University, the Cambridge Muslim Community, other university societies, FOSIS and other ISocs. They will support the aims, objectives and vision of the CUISoc (as outlined in Article A).
ii. Vice-President: deals with the day-to-day operational aspects of the society. The Vice President monitors the activity of subcommittees and deputises for the President. They will stand in as acting President where the President is unable to complete a term of office.
iii. Secretary: responsible for organising meetings of Shura, the Annual General Meeting and Ordinary General Meetings; publishing an agenda and minutes for each meeting; maintaining the membership lists and society database; and sending out a weekly bulletin and monthly prayer timetables to the CUISoc membership.
iv. Treasurer: deals with all financial matters of the Society; produces an annual budget; keeps accurate and up-to-date accounts of the Society’s income and expenditure; presents yearly CUISoc accounts to the Junior Proctor and the members of the Society at the AGM; manages the Sponsorship subcommittee.
v. Communications Officer: responsible for CUISoc communications, dealing with all external correspondence, including press releases/statements on behalf of the Society with due consultation with Shura, and manages publicity for the promotion of CU ISoc events.
vi. Student Affairs Officer: deals with welfare and issues related to Muslim students within the Society. The SAO organises Jummah prayers, orders society ‘stash’ annually for members and oversees the work of brothers’ and sisters’ social reps and the prayer room rep to see to the welfare needs of CUISoc members.
vii. Events Officer: responsible for managing the events held by the Society, they organise the Society’s weekly circles and are responsible for management of the Events subcommittee.
viii. [Gender regulations of positions in Shura will be finalised at a later date and prior to Elections in Lent 2010].
ix. Up to two additional members may be co-opted to the Shura who in the unanimous view of all Shura will bring considerable benefit to the Society with their participation. The Secretary must notify the membership of the co-optation of additional Shura members in the next weekly bulletin following the event. If ten voting members object to the appointment within seven days of notification, an OGM will be called within one month wherein their co-opted membership will be decided by a simple majority vote.
x. Shura meetings will be held on a fortnightly basis with a quorum of 4 Shura members. The Secretary shall produce an agenda and minutes to be sent out before and after the meeting, respectively. Any Shura member unable to attend should send their apologies to the Secretary before the meeting. Decisions will require a two thirds majority when voted upon by Shura, with the President holding a deciding vote.
C.3 In the case a member of Shura steps down or has a vote of no confidence passed against them:
i) For the case where the member is the President:
The Vice President will take the office of Acting President until the end of the term of office.
ii) For any other office holder:
The Shura will ask for nominations for suitable candidates from CUISoc members. Existing Shura members are eligible to be considered for the vacant position. The member stepping down does not have a say in this decision-making process if a vote of no-confidence has been passed but may contribute otherwise. The membership of CUISoc will then vote upon the position.
C.4 The Committee comprises the full range of sub-committees. The sub-committees organise and co-ordinate events in their own sector. They are supervised by Shura with day to day management vested in the Vice President and ultimate responsibility lying with the President. All CUISoc members are free to join any sub-committee and thereby join the Committee. The creation, compilation and removal of all sub-committees are to be decided by Shura. Any appropriate online method is suitable and approved by shura.
The heads of sub-committees are either elected by voting members of the CUISoc or appointed by Shura where they feel there is an appropriate need to do so. The procedure for election is as follows:
i) The Secretary announces the positions up for election and request nominations by an email to the general membership within seven days of the Michaelmas OGM.
ii) Three days are given to receive nominations. Any voting member of the Society may nominate themselves or be nominated by any other voting member. Shura members may not be nominated for subcommittee head positions. Nominations must be seconded by another voting member and sent to the Elections Committee ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Any member may be nominated for more than one position given that it does not contravene the regulations of gender-specific roles of certain positions (as outlined in the guidelines).
iii) The Elections Committee informs all members of the Society of the nominations within one day of close of nominations.
iv) An email vote is cast over the following three days. All votes must be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
v) After close of voting, all votes are counted by the Elections Committee. Where a candidate has been elected for more than one position they will be requested by the Elections committee to choose one position to accept. The position that they decline shall be awarded to the runner-up for that position from the elections. No candidate may hold more than one sub-committee head position. If there is a tie in the results for a certain position voting shall be re-opened for a further three days for this position, with only the tied candidates on the ballot paper.
vi) The results of the election are published to the general ISoc membership in the next weekly e-mail following the close of elections.
Article D – Annual General Meeting
D.1 An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be called by Shura during Lent term. The purpose of the AGM is to elect the next Shura: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Officer, Student Affairs Officer and Events Officer.
D.2 All voting members of CUISoc are eligible to run for office provided they are to remain voting CUISoc members for their elected term.
D.3 Only voting members are permitted to partake in the elections procedure and AGM. Affiliate members are permitted to attend the AGM but not permitted to nominate candidates, run for positions or to vote.
D.4 A quorum to ratify decisions made at the AGM is a minimum of 30 voting members.
D.5 Shura must appoint an Elections Committee, to be announced sixteen days before the AGM, who will act as returning officers. The Elections Committee will comprise of two chairs (one male, one female) and two other voting members. The Committee must maintain impartiality in the run up to and throughout the AGM. They are ineligible to stand for election of any office during the AGM.
D.6 Details of the AGM and the elections procedure must be sent out to the membership at least fourteen days before the AGM. Applications for offices will be opened and all applications will be sent to the elections committee. There is no limit to the number of offices one person applies for. The deadline for submission of applications is ten days before the AGM.
D.7 The order of elections at the AGM is as follows:
1. President
2. Vice President. Unsuccessful candidates for President automatically become candidates for Vice-President unless they choose to stand down.
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Communications Officer
6. Student Affairs Officer
7. Events Officer
D.8 The elections procedure is as follows:
i) The Elections Committee will announce the candidates who are running for that office by e-mail to the ISoc membership.
ii) Each candidate has three minutes to make a speech to present their candidacy to the membership.
iii) A twenty minute session where the membership may question the candidates. This may be extended by up to ten minutes by a simple majority vote of the membership.
iv) Each candidate has two minutes to make a closing speech.
v) Voting is by secret ballot. A simple majority decides the winner.
vi) Proxy votes may be sent by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by voting members who are unable to attend the AGM. These must be received from the time of the candidates being announced until up to 12pm on the day of the AGM. These votes must be verified by the elections committee.
vi) The Elections Committee announces the winner, including the breakdown of results.
D.9 The time between the AGM and the end of Lent Term is the handover period. The existing Shura retain official responsibilities during this period. All changes in financial signatories, correspondence addresses and e-mail lists must be complete by the end of Lent Term. The office of the new Shura begins the day following the last day of Lent Term.
D.10 The Treasurer will e-mail the membership the financial accounts of the Society before the AGM. Paper copies will also be present at the AGM. The membership may question the outgoing Treasurer regarding the accounts.
Article E – Open General Meeting
E.1 An Open General Meeting (OGM) may be called by:
i) A minimum of 10 voting members and must be announced to the CUISoc membership with at least 14 days’ notice.
ii) A minimum of 3 Shura members and must be announced to the CUISoc membership with at least 7 days’ notice.
E.2 A quorum to ratify decisions at the OGM is 20 voting members. A chair will be elected at the start of the OGM. The chair has no voting rights during the OGM and does not count towards quorum.
E.3 An OGM may be called to discuss specific issues relating to the activities or governance of ISoc; such as (but not limited to):
i) Constitutional amendments
ii) Vote of No Confidence
iii) Accountability of the Shura
iv) Current and planned activities of the ISoc
Article F- Finance
F.1 The Treasurer is responsible for all financial matters of CUISoc. The Treasurer must maintain regular, detailed accounts of all income and expenditure.
F.2 CUISoc members and any financial donors have a right to view the yearly accounts prepared by the Treasurer. Non-members of CUISoc may view the accounts at the discretion of the Treasurer.
F.3 The assets (for the sake of clarity to include all financial holdings) of CUISoc should be applied solely towards the promotion of the aims and objectives of the society.
i) None of the income or assets of the CUISoc may be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of profit to any member of the society. This does not prevent a member:
a) Purchasing goods or services: from receiving reasonable and proper remuneration for any goods or services supplied to CUISoc agreed in advance by a quorate Shura.
b) Selling goods or services: selling goods or services from CUISoc upon terms to be agreed in advance by a quorate Shura.
ii) In the event of any doubt pertaining to financial matters, the Treasurer must act in consultation with Shura.
