PMR - Professional Management Review

Progress, hope, an empowered youth that can forge the future of the community and the greater society – these are the driving principles that fire Channel Islam International (CII) as it brings ‘Islam to the world and the world to you’.

Headed by the management team and founders, Omar Farouk Hoosen, Hamza Farooqui and Ashraf Ali Seedat, the Group has sunk deep foundations into Muslim communities throughout Africa and the UK and is penetrating Saudia Arabia, Dubai and even the Maldives, sharing experiences and bringing information, education and entertainment to a market previously starved of such products and services.

“One of our secrets has been our close teamwork,” Hoosen explains. “We have unique strengths which complement each other and we are motivated by an intense belief in what we do.” These qualities were essential in helping them overcome the initial scepticism, doubt and even resistance of the early years. The enforced switch-over from a free-to-air platform to subscription upset many listeners when CII’s service provider changed business models. Endless roadshows, community-to-community marketing, dogged persuasion and determination and sheer hard work began to bear fruit, but slowly.

“Then came 9/11,” says Hoosen. “And CII spread like wildfire. All of a sudden, Muslims everywhere wanted a news and information service independent of the BBC or CNN. The vacuum in our communities became obvious, and we were there to fill it.” CII established a solid reputation, interviewing people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and America. Hoosen himself provided coverage from Afghanistan.

A faith-based organisation, CII strongly promotes the principles of Islam, actively espousing the Islamic faith, transparency and honesty. “We are not afraid to say sorry if we get things wrong!” Hoosen adds.

Growth has been nourished by the adventurous and enquiring spirit that inspires the organisation. “Our philosophy is that it is better to experiment in order to learn, rather than to sit with just tried and tested methods,” Hoosen continues. “Also, there is no point in looking over your shoulders at what you have done wrong, but rather, look forward and find different and new solutions.”

Meeting the needs of Muslim communities through broadcasting soon spread to identifying other needs where CII felt strongly that it had a contribution to make. “We enjoy a hard-won freedom in South Africa, for instance, and freedom means responsibility, so it is up to us to instil core values and principles in our young people.” This belief led to the creation of the CII Youth Foundation, with full-time staff who are consistently out in communities, cooperating with educators, schools, police and security organisations.

“The business model serves the Muslim community with products and services in the radio as well as the financial and retail sectors,” adds Seedat, who is in charge of the Group’s retail sector and who also manages the Group. Hoosen is head of broadcasting and Farooqui handles Finance and new business activities. CII is currently building the Country’s first five-star ‘dry’ hotel in Cape Town. Plans to establish a chain of retail stores focussed on Muslim requirements are also well underway.

Farooqui adds: “our vision to be a company that provides Muslims with the ability to listen Islamically, purchase Islamic goods and services and invest Islamically remains part of our core goal to create a community which has access to its religion and belief systems but which also becomes a means and bridge of dialogue between non-Muslims as well. The team is passionate about these projects and buoyantly confident about the future. They agree that “PMR’s award is a wonderful recognition of our achievements. It is just another indication that there is great hope for the future.”