Awards ceremony for the Young Khadims

An awards ceremony was held for the Young Khadims voluntary group on Saturday 26 August as a reward for their hard work over the previous few months.

The Young Khadims was launched in December 2022, with members’ ages ranging from 14-23. Since the launch, the group has carried out events such as feeding the homeless, a sleepover at a mosque, a funeral and educational workshop, and youth and community iftars.

A Khadim means "one who serves"; the group's name is derived from the Arabic word khimah which means service hence their motto - "to selflessly serve society".

The ceremony started with a recitation of the Holy Quran by Qari Abu Waleed (Imam of Madina Institute in Oldham) before Syed Meher, of Bradford, and Afzal Naqshbandi, of Rochdale, presented some Islamic poetry and nasheeds [vocal music].

Youth ambassador Mohammed Ali Islam, of Bradford, expressed his gratitude and amazement to see youngsters as young as 14 being involved in the community and described the volunteers as "community ambassadors".

Imam Irfan Chishti, of Chishtiah Mosque in Rochdale, gave a strong reminder to the volunteers about sincerity being a priority in this line of work, whilst Imam Habib Sialvi, of Oldham, was 'delighted' to see such positive work going on within the borough and commended the youngsters for providing a positive image for local youths.

Jamal Aziz, of The Young Khadims, said: "It was great to see many of the volunteers under one roof after a while especially during the summer holidays which is a very busy period and we were very fortunate to have guests join us locally as well as from Oldham and Bradford to participate in the ceremony.

"I express my gratitude to all of the volunteers as whatever we have achieved is through a joint effort.

"Regardless of when or where they have taken part, they have all been actively involved in making positive changes and they should all be very proud of themselves for being the handful of youngsters in today’s day and age that took the initiative to do khidmah (Service)."