Mosque and madrassah quarterly i1 q3 by Faith Associates

Mosque and Madrassah Quarterly Building Standards, inspiring the future | 2013 Issue 1 Q3

In this issue: ◗ Britain Does Ramadan... And Does It Very Well ◗ ISLAM: CHALLENGING THE PERECPTION ◗ Charities collecting for Qurbani

◗ Preparing for Hajj from our Local Mosque ◗ Raising Standards in Madrassah

In this issue: ◗ Britain Does Ramadan... And Does It Very Well ◗ Islam: Challenging The Perecption ◗ Charities collecting for Qurbani ◗ Preparing for Hajj from our Local Mosque ◗ Raising Standards in Madrassah

Editorial team Shaukat Warraich Editor

Sahar Zahid Contributing Editor – Women’s Affairs Qari Mohammed Asim Contributing Editor – Imam’s Affairs Rashid Laher Contributing Editor – Senior Citizens

Email: info@faithassociates.co.uk Faith Associates Website: www.faithassociates.co.uk

By Julie Siddiqi Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Britain Edited Piece from Huffington Post

difficult to explain in words. This year, the number of new initiatives I have seen popping up have been nothing short of inspirational. The student style ‘Ramadan energy’ that fills my Facebook timeline puts Red Bull to shame, big time! In central London, for example, every day, the ‘Ramadan Tent’ was set up by students from SOAS. Of course it is a great draw for Muslim students (free food and all!) but it was open to anyone and everyone and with this amazing weather we had, the atmosphere was second to none.

start of new relationships that will continue through the year.

‘The Big Iftar’ and ‘Iftar 2013’ were encouraging Mosques to open up their Iftar meals Ramadan does mean that to not only Muslims but we go without food and others too and the campaign drink from dawn to sunset were supported by anti and yes, in this heat and with racism organisation ‘HOPE such long days this year it not hate’ who had sent was a challenge, no doubt (if messages to their thousands I had a pound for each time someone has said to me ‘I of supporters encouraging could do it but not without them to take part. The water’ - I’d be a very rich UK Government has also woman!) shown support, with Home Secretary Theresa May But it meant so much more kicking things off on the first than that and the coming day at an ‘Iftar 2013’ event together of people, the in Maidenhead and other sharing of food, the helping Ministers such as Baroness Homeless projects and Food the poor and the millions of Warsi, Eric Pickles James banks have been inundated pounds donated in charity Brokenshire shared Iftars in with food and offers of help each year are aspects of Mosques in Leeds, London from Muslim volunteers up Ramadan that make it so Mosque and Madrassah Quarterly | www.mosquemanagement.com | 2013 I1 Q2 amazing and actually very and down the country, the and Birmingham.

The Mosque and Madrassah Quarterly was compiled by Faith Associates. The views expressed are those of the contributing editors and not of Faith Associates.

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Britain Does Ramadan... And Does It Very Well

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Mosque and Madrassah Quarterly

Islam: Challenging The Perecption By Qari Mohammed Asim (Contributing editor on Imam affairs and Chief Imam of Makkah Masjid Leeds)

windows to spray insulation foam underneath, and set it alight. They have since been charged. The list goes on.

Following the tragic death of Drummer Lee Rigby, British Muslims spoke out publicly to condemn the brutal actions of those individuals responsible for his murder. Muslims worked hard with other faith groups to bring a sense of unity in such an ugly situation. However, on the same day of the funeral of Lee Rigby, a nail bomb exploded at Kanz-ul-Iman mosque in Tipton just before the Friday prayer. The attack was dubbed as “an attempted act of terror designed to divide our community” by the Home secretary, Theresa May. It was not an isolated incident.

Actions are being taken to bring those responsible to account. A 25 year old Ukrainian man, has subsequently been charged with planting the bomb at the Walsall mosque, as well as placing similar devices in Tipton and Wolverhampton. He was also charged with the murder of Mohamed Saleem, a 75 year old man who was stabbed in Birmingham.

ATTACK ON MOSQUES Mosques are symbols of British Muslims’ presence in Britain. In recent months, we have seen many mosques under attack. The incidents have escalated from graffiti or flour being thrown at a mosque to arson and terrorist attacks. Since the horrific murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich on 22 May, the number of Islamophobic instances have risen considerably. Post-Woolwich, 30 mosques in the UK have been attacked. Within 2 weeks of the Woolwich attack, 2 mosques in our city, Leeds, were attacked, including graffiti being sprayed on them. What happened in Leeds was by no means unique. On 5 June, a mosque and Somali community centre in Muswell Hill, north London, was burnt to the ground by arsonists. On 18 June, the Masjid-e-Noor in Gloucester was set alight. On Sunday 25 August, three young men went to Harlow Islamic Centre, Essex, in the middle of the night, prised opened the shuttered doors and

CHURCH ATTACKED Whilst some Mosques may have been attacked in this country, we must not forget the attempts by hatemongers and hate preachers to divide our communities. If arson attacks are carried out on mosques in Britain by extremists; then extremists may also be attacking individuals and places of worship in other parts of the world. A suicide attack on a Christian church in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar in September killed at least 78 people including children and injured more than 100 people. The act of taking hostage and attacking innocent people in the Westgate mall of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, was absolutely sickening and appalling, as the so-called Muslims targeted nonMuslims. Sixty-eight people were killed, including fellow Britons.

INDIVIDUAL VICTIMS In the five weeks immediately following the attack, the monitoring organisation TellMama has recorded 250 anti-Muslim incidents against individuals; in addition, they note that anti-Muslim hate is on the rise. There is a laissezfaire approach to online abuse, generally - whether suffered by Muslims or non-

Muslims. However, tweets about ‘slash Muslims’ go unnoticed. Tell Mama receives about eight reports every single day (compared with around two or three when they launched in 2011). However, it is to be noted that first, victims of anti-Muslim hatred crime do not always report the incidents. Even if they do report them, other than one metropolitan police force in the UK, there is no other police force that keeps a separate record of antiMuslim crimes. It is otherwise expected that incidents of anti-Muslim hatred crime are actually much higher. The majority of attacks on the street are levelled at women, who are wearing headscarves, a visual sign of their religious identity. The rise in such anti-Muslim attacks and the severity of the nature of such incidents indicates that extreme groups in England want to send a strong message of hatred to British Muslims.

NIQAB & BEARD BAN On 16 September, a judge ruled that a woman had to remove her niqab (full face veil) in court. The Muslim niqab, once again became at the heart of a growing controversy with passionate arguments regarding whether such coverings have a place in a liberal society and whether an out-right ban should be introduced. The debate has been given an un-proportionate level of news time and turned by some sections of our media and some politicians into a “political football”. The debate about banning the face-veil could be viewed as a non-issue that is being used to demonise/stigmatise an entire set of people to make them conform to a certain way of living. Given that only

a tiny minority of Muslim women choose to wear the niqab, does the issue truly warrant such wide-spread scrutiny and attention? Such intense negative pressure can be counterproductive as it can make people less open to inter-community engagement, creating further segregation and division. Further, two 14-year-old boys have been banned from attending lessons with other pupils at a school in Accrington because they refuse to shave their beards. Such actions erode freedom of choice and religious expression, which are otherwise fiercely protected in Britain.

IMAM’S ROLE In such troubling times when places of worship are being attacked and individuals are insulted, abused, subjected to violence or even killed because of their faith, the role of faith leaders becomes ever more important to work hard to bring communities together. In terms of Muslims, the reaction can vary. On the one hand, attacks on people affect the community’s confidence. Anxiety is increased and people feel un-welcome in their own city. On the other hand, young people feel that Muslims need to ‘man up’, to learn self-defence and protect themselves. The message needs to be to stay calm, vigilant, and watchful. Not to overreact, point the finger towards any faith or community as a whole; instead, both sides need to display a dynamic spirit of open mindedness, co-operation and friendship. Criminal acts are of the criminal, not the whole community. It is easy for Muslims to become very defensive in the face of attacks. However, we

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must remember that for the majority of non-Muslims, their impression of Islam is formed wholly or mainly be what they hear and see in the media. A recent survey revealed that 27% of those questioned said they did not trust Muslims. The young people questioned placed the blame for Islamophobia in Britain on terror groups abroad (26%), the media (23%) and UK Muslims who have committed acts of terror (21%) (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ newsbeat/24204742). The picture painted by the results of the survey shows the inevitable confusion that results in the minds of those who are bombarded with negative stories of Islam by today’s 24 hour newsrooms; whether it be terrorists in another part of the world claiming that their barbaric acts are justified by the Qur’an, or images of young British Muslims at home blowing themselves up allegedly to further their religious pursuits. NonMuslims faced with such views are unlikely to feel anything but negativity and fear of the religion they are confronted with.

The only way of counteracting these negative images is for Muslims at the grass-roots level to come out and publicly demonstrate the essence of Islam as being a peaceful, loving, compassionate and humane religion. It comes down to ordinary Muslims to be conscious of the image of Islam they are portraying through their every-day actions, and for Mosques to work hard to spread the true message of Islam; one which is far removed from the version most people encounter in the media.

INTER-FAITH WEEK Many mosques are part of inter-faith networks in their cities and regions and organise Mosque ‘Open Days’ in order to reach out to others. In particular, during the Inter-Faith week, such activities and dialogue takes place throughout the country. This year Inter Faith Week 2013 will take place from 17 to 23 November. Inter-Faith week presents opportunities for extending existing bonds of cooperation and friendship and creating new ones, and Imams should

Charities collecting for Qurbani By Nick Donaldson, Outreach Manager, Charity Commission Every year, Islamic charities in England and Wales collect millions of pounds to be sent overseas for the purchase, slaughter and distribution of animals (Qurbani) as part of Eid-al-Adha festival of the sacrifice’. This is a very generous time of giving and, as always, the public has a right to feel confident that their charitable donations are going to the cause they intended. The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, is issuing some reminders for trustees of charities collecting for Qurbani:

rigorously encourage their congregations to take part. It must be emphasised that mosques that continue to enhance their inter-faith relations do not do so because it is the ‘politically correct’ thing to do or a PR exercise. There is Qur’anic motivation for Inter-Faith dialogue and the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) practised it. In order to promote good inter-community relations, and fulfil each others’ rights, the Noble Qur’an teaches four principles that should underpin relations and interactions: 1. The Equality of mankind 2. Mutual understanding 3. Cooperation 4. Friendship When these four principles are followed, they can help us explore our commonalities, moral, social and spiritual concerns; sharing good practices with each other can help us develop a robust strategy in facing the challenges of postmodernity. It is imperative that more mosques take part in inter-community/inter-faith

projects. The Inter Faith programmes present an opportunity for people to come together for dialogue; such dialogue must move to learning and action on both sides. We at Leeds Makkah Masjid have been part f a number of ‘social actions’ ranging from feeding homeless, working with organisations to seek justice for genuine asylum seekers who may have been detained by the authorities, to raising funds for local charities and hospices. The interfaith activities must involve young people from both sides - Muslims and nonMuslims, as time and again surveys show that a significant proportion of the British population holds negative views of Islam and Muslims (source: http://www.bbc. co.uk/newsbeat/24204742). It is therefore important that young people are mixing at local levels and that they are working on projects (such as inter-faith cricket or football tournaments, cycling or climbing expeditions) together so that people can get to know Muslims and vice versa.

Trustees have the same duties in respect of funds collected under Qurbani appeals as for any other funds they send overseas, and need to ensure that: • They conduct proper checks on overseas agencies or individuals to whom they are sending funds, satisfying themselves that the organisation or individual concerned is both capable of performing the Qurbani and will not use or transfer the funds for any other purpose. • They monitor the process, and obtain appropriate evidence to satisfy themselves that the Qurbani they have paid for has been properly performed. If it

has not, they should obtain information about this and strongly consider whether they should use the provider again. •A ny funds collected for the restricted purpose of Qurbani (restricted funds)

are used for that purpose alone. Further information on due diligence and monitoring can be found via our website at the following link: www.charitycommission. gov.uk/2872

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Mosque and Madrassah Quarterly

Preparing for Hajj from our Local Mosque our privileged pilgrims- male and female.

by Sahar Zahid – Trustee Al Manar Mosque Kensington London It’s that special time of the year and as I write this, many fortunate sisters are preparing to accept Allah’s (SWT) invitation and make that irreplaceable journey for pilgrimage. Whilst this once in a lifetime journey is both blessed and beautiful, it can also be a struggle. A struggle that requires physical, mental and spiritual patience and I believe, our mosques and Islamic centres have a mammoth role in preparing

As a female member of an Islamic centre’s board, I am keen to see more facilities and support made available to those wishing to make this journey. Simple practices that do not cost our mosques a great deal in time or money but that make all the difference for those who may be in need of extra support and guidance. Many centres provide seminars and lectures on the fiqh of Hajj but I want to see more than that, I want us to be involved in the run up to the special trip in every way. Preparation is key for a successful hajj and advice usually comes from so many people who have had very different hajj experiences that the event can be a little overwhelming even before you have left your home. A little thought needs to go into what we are offering our sisters and how we are preparing them beyond the usual agency

Raising Standards in Madrassah By Shaukat Warraich (Editor) Part of Madrassah Management and Safeguarding toolkit

To achieve civilised societies, be they local, national or global it is paramount we invest our time, energy and resources into the education of our future generations. We must provide opportunities that nurture and encourage children and young people

to aspire for themselves, for their families, for their communities and nation. The Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) was commanded to Read “Iqra” as his very first celestial engagement via Archangel Gabriel whilst receiving his first revelation of the Holy Quran. Education, teaching, being taught, receiving guidance and instruction are the foundation of all Muslim communities. The Madrassah (a place of learning) was the first institution that was established by the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) “Dar Al Arqam” to teach and to safeguard his early followers. For many young Muslims the Madrassah is their first contact with structured teaching and learning; it is vitally important

induction programme that currently takes place. I would love to have a lecture series that starts very early on and has a schedule of discourses that address all aspects of Hajjfrom making the decision to go to action points upon your return. These lectures would concentrate on the religious and practical requirements of hajj and focus on tackling the expectations of those about to go. Hand in hand with this, workshops would allow attendees to physically prepare for the experience. From health seminars to self-evaluations and strategic planning, sisters would be filled with the confidence that they are ready for the blessed journey in every way. Being in a weekly setting with other sisters who will be sharing your experience will allow those participating to face some of their fears and misconceptions about the trip. Creating checklists and dua records that can be

that this early experience with the joys of learning is positive and engaging. In Muslim communities around the world there are many thousands, if not millions, of dedicated and devoted individuals who selflessly give their time and energy to teach scripture and promote ethical and moral values to the next generation of Muslims - these efforts need to be commended and supported. In order to capitalise on the efforts imbued by so many and the time spent by children and young people learning, it is very important that positive fruits and outcomes are achieved from these noble endeavours. Future generations need to be taught in a modern, future looking Madrassah that helps them grow from childhood to adolescence into

compared would allow those participating the humbling experience of unity and sisterhood before they even begin. Even an opportunity to get in shape (one of the main concerns of many sisters is the physical demand of the journey) could be wonderfully organised by our centres, an example being a weekly walking club to build up endurance. Woman play a big role in the usage of our centres and having special hajj programmes that cater to their specific needs would be just one way of allowing them further access to our mosques and centres. At the end of the day, we want to be at the heart of our community and there is no better way of doing that than supporting our hujjaj. To all those making that blessed trip, may Allah bless your Hajj and accept all our good deeds. May He make things easy for you and allow you to come back safely.

adulthood. The Madrassah should produce graduates that are enlighten, engaged, balanced, proactive, sincere, productive and essentially competitive individuals. Able to contribute to society whether they live in a majority Muslim country or live as a minority in a non Muslim society. The Madrassah, the Quranic or Islamic evening or weekend school has, is and will in the future play a vitally important role. Raising standards in our Madrassah has been become essential if we are be build a sustainable, healthy, productive and progressive Madrassah in the 21st Century. A particular emphasis on the safety and wellbeing of young people as a prerequisite for a healthy and engaging learning environment is critical if the Madrassah is truly to be valued as a national treasure.

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