27/09/2025
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakaatuh.
Brothers and sisters of the global Islamic community, esteemed members of the Islamic Chamber of Trade and Industry (ICTI).
Today, I bring to you a reminder that is of concern to us all, not just as President of the Islamic Chamber of Trade and Industry, but as a Muslim who shares your aspirations, your dreams, and your deepest concerns. Look around you, and look across the oceans to our brothers and sisters in every land. What do you see? You see 2 billion-strong community, rich in ingenuity, immense in resources, and yet, too often, fragmented and subjected to a silent, insidious war. A war not fought with bombs, but with barriers—barriers of opportunity, barriers of trust, and barriers rooted in discrimination.
We gather under the banner of ICTI to build a future defined by commercial freedom and self-determination. Our mission is not a simple business endeavor; it is a moral imperative. We are here to dismantle the systemic disadvantages that block our businesses, stifle our youth, and prevent the global Islamic Ummah from achieving its rightful economic stature.
Let me be clear: The Islamic Chamber of Trade and Industry is a monumental organization with several profound objectives. The AICTC Marketplace is one necessary, practical tool—not the whole war chest.
We created the Marketplace because we understood a fundamental truth: When Muslims seek to buy, sell, and network, they are too often met with suspicion, prejudice, or outright denial in platforms that were not built for us, nor do they understand us. We needed to provide a sanctuary—a platform our community can truly call its own, where you can conduct your business without disruption, without prejudice, and with dignity.
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Brother Faisal Hourani, our Chief Technology Officer, and his dedicated team. Your tireless work has given us a foundation. And to every member who shares, creates an advert, and promotes it—you are the pioneers on the frontier of our economic liberty. The global Islamic community understood our intention, which is to build a place where faith is an asset, not a liability.
But building a platform that can stand against the global giants is not a hobby—it is a struggle. We have been tightly focused on strengthening the AICTC Marketplace's security, flexibility, and usability. We are not there yet, and it demands more of our attention and hard work. It remains a work in progress.
My brothers and sisters, we must speak with the brutal honesty of those facing a serious challenge. At the beginning of this year, 2025, we set out with ambitious platforms—a vision of what our collective action could achieve:
A. To update the platform to a global, best-in-class standard.
B. To organize five crucial webinars focused on business growth, sales, risk management, and understanding the reasons behind business failure.
C. To establish a Halal Certification Company, initially focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, while fighting to globalize its recognition.
D. To create and integrate Islamic business-related courses on the AICTC Marketplace, offering members globally recognized certificates.
E. To establish a crucial shipping channel connecting Nigeria, Cameroon, and Egypt to China and Türkiye.
F. And finally, to dramatically expand our family, bringing in new members from Africa, Asia, and Europe to connect and trade.
Yet, here we are, already in the ninth month of the year, and we have not achieved nearly enough. Why? Not for lack of will, but for lack of unified, overwhelming action.
We cannot conquer the mountains of discrimination and systemic bias with just a few dedicated warriors. We need an army of action.
Hear my voice. This fight for commercial independence is not the fight of a single man.
It is the fight of every Muslim who believes in a future free from economic discrimination. We are fighting to gain commercial freedom, to connect with one another, and to propel our Ummah toward relentless progress.
The discrimination we face is rooted in our identity. The solution must be rooted in our unity. When we choose to buy from a Muslim-owned supplier on the AICTC Marketplace, we are not just making a purchase—we are casting a vote against prejudice. We are transferring wealth back into our own community. We are building the economic muscle needed to stand tall on the global stage.
We need you. We need the entrepreneur who knows how to streamline a supply chain. We need the IT professional who can fortify a server. We need the marketing expert who knows how to make our voice heard across continents. We need the member who knows a dozen people ready to make their first purchase on our platform. We need the businessman who can convince his colleagues to join the AICTC marketplace.
For that, I issue a call to action—a call to service:
Volunteer Your Knowledge: If you have knowledge, a connection, or an idea that can help us achieve any of our stated goals, show up. We need experts in finance, logistics, technology, and marketing. Your skill is an Amanah from Allah, that must be used for the good of the Ummah.
Spread the Platform: You are our greatest advertising agency.
Recommend the AICTC Marketplace to your business partners, your family, your community groups. Make it a point of pride and a point of principle to shop and sell there.
Introduce new ideas.
Do not wait to be asked. Volunteer what you have, for Allah helps those who fight for His path.
We need each other, just as all of us need Allah.
Our faith teaches us unity. Our history demands enterprise. Our current reality mandates action. Let us not simply manage a chamber; let us forge a destiny.
Let us prove that a community united by faith is a community that cannot be broken by discrimination.
Let us roll up our sleeves, re-commit to our goals, and make the next three months count more than the last nine.
Jazaakumullahu Khairan,
Wa Barakallahu feekum Ajmain.
Wa Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakaatuh.
Meka-ilu Mbashowoh
President of ICTI (Islamic Chamber of Trade and Industry)
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