Reflections on the Muslim Voluntary Sector Leaders Conference

Held in Nottingham – Sunday 31st August 2025

Introduction

On Sunday 31st August 2025, I attended the Muslim Voluntary Sector Leaders and Organisations Conference at Himmah Hub in Nottingham. Billed as a collaborative gathering for identifying challenges, sharing solutions, and building partnerships, the event brought together around 30 people from across the voluntary and community space.

The conference was positioned as a free, open, and inclusive opportunity for Muslim organisations to reflect, strategise, and strengthen collective impact. With keynote speeches from Jehangir Malik OBE, who spoke on the British Muslim Civil Society Report, and Hasan Salim Patel from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), expectations were high that the day would spark meaningful discussion and energise local and national actors in the sector.

Yet as I reflect on the day, I am struck by a series of observations — both positive and critical — that highlight deeper issues within our community leadership spaces. While there was value in convening, listening, and airing concerns, I found myself questioning the mindset and development culture of many of the leaders present.

What follows is not an attack on individuals or organisations, but rather a critical exploration of patterns that undermine our ability to truly grow, innovate, and serve.

The Demographic Imbalance

The first and most obvious observation was the demographic composition of the attendees. Out of around 30 people in the room, at least 25 were older men 50+. Only five women were present, and very few younger people.

This imbalance is not trivial. It reflects structural challenges in Muslim community leadership:

• Gender imbalance in decision-making spaces.
• Age imbalance, where younger voices are marginalised or absent.
• A narrow circle of representation, with attendance drawn from familiar networks rather than broad, inclusive outreach.

When leadership conversations are dominated by older men, the diversity of perspectives is inevitably stifled. Younger Muslims, women, and grassroots activists bring fresh ideas, lived experiences, and innovative approaches that are often missing when discussions are limited to a familiar cohort of senior figures.

Talking About Problems vs. Taking Responsibility

The content of the discussions largely revolved around the challenges facing Muslim communities: Islamophobia, poverty, lack of representation, social exclusion, and other systemic issues. These are undeniably important and require collective strategies.

However, I noticed a recurring pattern: much of the conversation focused on what other organisations or external actors should be doing. There was an underlying expectation that “someone else” — government, institutions, larger charities, masjids or other community groups — should act to solve these problems.

What was largely absent was a willingness for self-reflection:

• What can we do differently?
• How are we failing to engage effectively?
• In what ways have we limited our own growth, impact, and innovation?

This tendency to externalise responsibility risks creating a culture of perpetual complaint without corresponding action. It keeps leaders in a reactive stance, rather than positioning them as proactive agents of change.

The Question of Self-Development

My biggest takeaway from the event, and my central critique, relates to the lack of emphasis on personal and professional development among community leaders.

As I listened, I found myself wanting to ask each person in the room a series of probing questions:

• In the last month, how many of you have attended a training course, workshop, or seminar to develop your skills?
• In the last three months, how many of you have read a book that meaningfully challenged or inspired you, and applied its lessons in your work?
• In the last six months, how many of you have actively invested in coaching, mentoring, or leadership development for yourselves?
• In the last year, how many of you have designed and delivered training programmes to build the capacity of your teams or communities?

If the honest answer to most of these questions is “very few,” then it highlights a fundamental problem.

Community leadership cannot be sustained on goodwill, history, or tradition alone. In a rapidly changing world, leaders who do not prioritise continuous learning, growth, and development inevitably stagnate. They risk becoming dogmatic — fixed in their ways, recycling the same conversations year after year, while failing to adapt to new realities and opportunities.

Stagnation and Dogmatism

This sense of stagnation was palpable. Many of the men present have been involved in community work for decades. Their commitment is not in question, but commitment without renewal can easily turn into rigidity.

When leaders are:

• Repeating the same narratives,
• Using the same strategies,
• Attending the same types of meetings,
• Expecting the same outcomes from the same approaches,

…then innovation suffers. The danger is not simply that nothing changes — but that new generations lose faith in community structures altogether, seeing them as irrelevant, outdated, or unresponsive.

This is particularly troubling when the issues facing Muslim communities are evolving rapidly: mental health, digital engagement, youth identity, gender inclusion, climate justice, economic empowerment, and political participation all require fresh approaches.

The Irony of Advising Without Growth

The irony, and perhaps the hypocrisy, is that many community leaders spend their time advising others — schools, families, young people, policymakers — on what needs to change. Yet if they themselves lack a personal or professional development plan, their advice lacks integrity.

How can we, as leaders, tell young people to invest in education, self-improvement, and skill-building, if we are not modelling that same commitment?
How can we call for systemic reform if we have not reformed our own practices?
How can we demand inclusion if our own spaces are exclusionary?

Real leadership begins with self-leadership. Without it, all talk of community change rings hollow.

Food, Time, and Symbolism

Even small details at the event carried symbolic weight.

• The event ran over time, with no clear structure or discipline in timekeeping. This communicates a lack of respect for participants’ time.
• Food was delivered punctually, yet left waiting as discussions continued. As the saying goes: you should wait for food, but never make food wait for you.

These may seem minor, but they reflect broader cultural habits: lack of planning, lack of discipline, and a tendency to let things drift rather than holding to agreed structures. If we cannot manage time or hospitality effectively, how can we claim to manage more complex social challenges?

Towards a Culture of Growth and Accountability

So what is the way forward? Critique is only useful if it points towards constructive alternatives.

1. Prioritise Personal Development

Every leader should have a personal development plan. This could include:

• Annual training goals (courses, seminars, certifications).
• Reading and study targets (books, articles, thought leaders).
• Regular coaching or mentoring sessions.
• Reflection and accountability practices.

2. Invest in Organisational Capacity

Organisations should embed training and development into their culture. Staff, volunteers, and trustees alike should be encouraged — and supported — to continuously learn.

3. Broaden Representation

Conferences and forums must intentionally include women, young people, and diverse voices. This is not about tokenism but about recognising that no single demographic has a monopoly on insight.

4. Balance Talking with Doing

Discussions must lead to clear action points, timelines, and accountability. Each event should end with specific commitments — not just general agreement.

5. Model Discipline and Professionalism

Timekeeping, hospitality, and event structure matter. They set the tone for how seriously the work is taken.

Conclusion

The Muslim Voluntary Sector Leaders Conference at Himmah Hub was an important convening moment. It provided a platform for discussion, networking, and raising issues. But it also revealed deeper patterns that limit our effectiveness: demographic imbalances, externalisation of responsibility, stagnation, and lack of personal growth among leaders.

If our community leadership is to remain relevant and impactful, it must embrace a culture of growth, accountability, and inclusion. Leaders must invest in themselves as much as they invest in others. They must model the change they wish to see, not simply call for it in others.

Ultimately, the strength of our collective impact will depend not just on what we demand from the outside world, but on what we are willing to change within ourselves.