FANZURUU was started in the year 2011 by myself and a few friends, namely Adi Rusyaidi, Hidir and Huzaifah. As someone who was very active in the volunteering scene for the past decade, we felt a need to create a platform for us to contribute continuously albeit our imminent departure overseas for our studies.
The name was a reimagined version from a book written by Hilal Asyraf, FANZURU. In the Quran, verses with the words “فانظروا” relates to humans being pushed by Allah SWT for us to think and reflect, thus setting the tone for FANZURUU.
At that time, Dakwah through social media especially amongst the young was very limited to the Youth Wings of Mosques. Instagram was also just in their baby years while Facebook and Twitter are the more preferred social media platforms. As students, we used this platform to share things around the world such as experiences in Madinah, Cairo, Egypt, Jordan or Malaysia.
Over the years, Fanzuruu was run as a “give-back” entity of Sangkar Emas Enterprise, the registered business entity owned together by Huzaifah and myself. Profits from our business will be channeled to fund programmes run under FANZURUU such as AMEUS.
At the end of 2019, before the emerging threat of COVID-19, we planned to split these into different entities to better define each one. With AMEUS going on the 7th year since it was first launched, we felt those who we mentored are more than capable of taking over running FANZURUU with us focusing to grow our brands under the umbrella of Sangkar Emas.
The turn of 2020 was supposed to be the year of proper growth. And that was when the unexpected pandemic struck. Our business was hit badly and it derailed plans for our business expansion. However, it actually gave us the opportunity to properly think over the split of entities, so that one’s loss does not affect the other. Alhamdulillah, AMEUS under Fanzuruu was run online fully for the first time. Reflections from the mentioned event led to the idea of a launching that has been kept in our minds for years.
In 2015, I wrote down plans to launch a multi-author magazine-like website to help inculcate the spirit of writing. During my teenage years, blogging was actively popular and sending writings to traditional media outlets such as the Newspaper was something special. A few years down the road, the emergence of social media platforms has shifted the way we respect people, in which at this point of time, people are mainly respected for their confidence in speaking in front of a camera and eloquence. This was in opposition to what Islamic Scholars of the past were known for. We know our past learned scholars through writing that defines their intellectual capabilities rather than the way they talk or engage audiences. But, the plans I wrote remain silent in my Google Drive.
That changed in 2020. What was actually planned as lunch to laud those who volunteered for AMEUS 2020 became a pitch for the idea I kept for five years. Within a month, the framework was already in motion for it to be launched by year end. After consulting with FANZURUU founding members, we decided to relaunch FANZURUU before the year ends, to show that despite the challenges we had in 2020, plans can still be developed. We hope for your continuous support for FANZURUU in the decades to come, In sya Allah!
