Makkah Masjid’s interaction with delegations from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Indonesia
Administrator on July 27th, 2009
Over the years, Makkah Masjid has built strong links with Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds University and their students. Imam Qari Asim has worked with them on projects such as the opening of the new Institute for Spirituality, Religion & Public Life at Leeds Met University.
Many University students undertake projects about the activities of the Mosque as part of their modules regarding theology, comparative studies, Islam in Britain, European Islam, multi-culturalism and community cohesion etc. Over the course of a year, Imam Qari Asim sees a large number of students researching these topics and has useful discussions with those students.
The Imam of Makkah Masque also receives student delegations from various countries, and they exchange views on Islamic and cultural practices in their respective countries. In the past couple of months, Imam Qari Asim has met student delegations from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Indonesia. Makkah Masjid and its sister mosque, Al-Madina Jamia Masjid has a long history of working with the Turkish people. Imam Professor Hafiz Fateh Muhammad who served the Muslim Leeds community used to work with people from various regions and backgrounds and set a good tradition of different groups working with each other for the greater good.
Imam Qari Asim recently also met Piet Hizbullah Khaidir, The Chairperson of Muhammadiyah Youth Movement-Central Board, Indonesia, and The Former Chairman of Leeds-Indonesian Muslim Society, and Arif Rahman Bambang, a senior lecturer at Assalaam, a modern boarding school for boys and girls in Indonesia.
Qari Asim discussed with them the work that Muhammadiyah has done in building the social and educational infrastructure in Indonesia in such a short period of time. Qari Asim said that many other organizations around the world could learn from the model propounded by Muhammadiyah. Piet said that “we will have great opportunities to build colaborative programmes in the future”.
Qari Asim also discussed the thesis of Arif Rahman Bambang regarding ‘Mosque and Community Cohesion: Interaction between Muslims and Non-Muslims in Leeds’. In this thesis Qari Asim worked with Arif Rahman Bambang and met him on a number of occasions for the purposes of interviews and to shed light on the activities of Makkah Masjid. Arif Rahman Bambang said that he was “grateful for the support that the community of Makkah Masjid had offered him during his stay in Leeds and wished to continue to work with them in the coming years.”
Qari Asim gave signed copies of his books, including copies of his most recent book Our Children -Our future to the delegation. For further details about Our Children -Our future, please click on: http://www.deenfoundation.org.uk/wp/index.php/2009/04/08/75/
Imam also invited the Leeds-Indonesian Muslim Society to the upcoming event at Makkah Masjid on Sunday 2 August 2009.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Masjid is doing a lot of outreach work. Keep it up!