Leeds Makkah MasjidServing the Leeds Muslim Communities

Islamic Exhibition & Open Days

Administrator on April 22nd, 2010

May 1^st @3pm Connecting Cultures event / Dignitaries session

May 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th (10am-6pm)- All welcome 

May 3rd Ladies Only (10am-6pm)– Sisters only exhibition, talks and nasheeds (3pm-6pm)

Makkah Mosque will be holding the annual Islamic Exhibition in the month of May, insha Allah. The Exhibition is open to all, regardless of faith or cultural background. This event offers a fantastic opportunity to gain an insight into a Muslim faith organisation working hard to connect cultures and foster real community cohesion. The Open Days & Islamic Exhibition is in keeping with the Mosque’s longstanding aim of promoting and encouraging understanding and mutual respect within the wider community. The management of the Mosque, Leeds Muslim Council, has historically been committed to helping achieve harmony within the local community by planning initiatives that actively engage with different community organisations, with the aim of providing opportunities for visitors to explore and share the beauty of Islam.

The exhibits will include artefacts from the early Islamic period, as well as extracts from copies of the Holy Qur’an from an early Islamic period. There will also be information on display highlighting the vital role Islam and Muslims have played throughout the ages in the development of a variety of fields, including science, maths, medicine and art.

The event will include calligraphy workshops. There will be an opportunity for attendees to have their names written in Arabic calligraphy.

In addition to the general Exhibition, there will be a special session for dignitaries and community leaders on Saturday 1st May 2010 at 3:00pm. Guests at previous occasions have included: Hilary Benn (Minister for the Environment and Rural Affairs), Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (Shadow Secretary for Community Cohesion), John Battle MP (former faith advisor), US Ambassador to the UK, Cabinet Ministers, Terry Hodgkinson (Chair of Yorkshire Forward), Tim Field (Partner of DLA Piper) Graham Taylor (author of best-selling Shadowmancer), local MPs, the Lord Mayors of Leeds, the Leader and Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, the Pro-Vice-Chancellors of Leeds University and Leeds Metropolitan University, lecturers from Universities and representatives from local council, the education, voluntary, community and faith sectors. This year’s session will be attended by similar dignitaries.

This year’s chief guest will be Greg Roberts, CEO of Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville USA, who will shed light on the vision of the Muhammad Ali Center.

A key aim of the event is to create a platform for organisations from a wide spectrum of sectors to get together to experience and understand the message of peace and harmony that forms the cornerstone of the Islamic faith. The intention is to demonstrate not only the positive contribution Muslims have made to civilisations throughout history through the historic artefacts on display as part of the exhibition, but also to highlight the positive contribution Muslims make in today’s society. The underlying message of the event is that a partnership based approach is a key to maintaining harmonious relations between different sections of society and promoting community cohesion.

There will be a Ladies’ only Islamic Exhibition, talks and nasheed artists on 3rd May when the Mosque will be solely managed by ladies and only ladies will be allowed in the Mosque except at prayer times.

Refreshments will be provided throughout the event.

Please see the links below for more information:

http://www.leedsliveitloveit.com/visitors/places-to-go~page/leeds-makkah-mosque
http://www.leedsliveitloveit.com/visitors/whats-on~page/islamic-exhibition2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leeds/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8651000/8651409.stm

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7388868.stm 

The feedback received on the previous Open Days has been very positive , .. The comments of one visitor, who found the Open Days to be “very insightful and a great opportunity to see the beautiful [Mosque]” summed up the general consensus amongst the visitors that the experience has been a positive one.  A representative from Leeds Initiative found the event to be “superb” and commented that “everyone should come to events like this.” Some of the other comments included:   “very professional”, “brilliant presentation”. “Fantastic opportunity. Thank you for being such welcoming hosts. I have learnt a lot.”  “Really interesting to see what goes on in here. Thanks for your hospitality.”

Also, on Saturday May 1^st 2010 Concord Walk of Friendship in the Hyde Park area of Leeds shall shall start at 10:45am at All Hallows and shall end at Makkah Masjid at 2:30pm. For further details, please visit, www.concord-leeds.org.uk

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