The first annual Award Ceremony of the Shariah class of Minhaj ul Qur'an Glasgow took place on 16th April 2016.

Minhaj ul Qur’an Glasgow had started its Shariah class in October 2014. To mark the successful completion of the first year of the class, an excellent award ceremony was arranged in which the students were awarded the prizes and certificates of achievement.

The honourable guests of the ceremony included Councillor Raja Hanif, Councillor Frank McAveety (Head of Glasgow City Council), James Kelly MSP, Constable Shahid Scott (Police Scotland), Shaykh Rehan Raza and Usman Nazir (Gen. Sec. RCC Scotland).

The ceremony was hosted by Shariah class students Haneen Fatima and Afifa Ahmed. In the ceremony there were a variety of performances and talks given by the students including the Tilawat by Yaqoob Hayat, Nasheed by Ayesha Ahmed, Haneen Fatima, Afifa Ahmed and Sanna Hayat.

Maryam Shakoor, Aneesa Hussain, Saliha Azim, Mumina Azim, Sanna Hayat, Hasnat Ahmed, Muhammad Salmaan Rafiq, Faizan Hussain, Qais Ahmed and Yaqoob Hayat recited various Ahadith from Al-Minhaj al-Sawi min al-Hadith al-Nabawi along with their English translation which they had memorized.

Speeches were made on topics such as the ‘Importance of Seerah in the Modern Era’ by Aysha Ahmed, ‘Love for Holy Prophet (Saw)’, by Ali Hyder, ‘Human Rights’ by Mariam Ali, ‘Relations of Muslims and Non-Muslims’ by Hasnat Ahmed and ‘Islamic Curriculum on Peace and Counter Terrorism’ by Sufyan Khalid. The students were very amazing and outstanding showing their interest and thirst for knowledge. They have been very committed and dedicated to spend 6 hours a day especially on a Saturday to come to the MQI Centre and learn about the true Din.

The guests gave their extremely impressed views and comments about the hard work and performance which the students put in for their Islamic studies and award ceremony performance.

Addressing the students, Councillor Raja Hanif said;

“I can only say one word, ‘fascinating’. I was so impressed especially with the young daughters and young boys. Very knowledgeable and very thoughtful speeches. After those speeches I don’t think there is a chance for us Politian’s to speak anything.”

Councillor Frank McAveety said;

“I want to thank the teachers in particular for the work they did with you because each and every one of you who spoke were incredibly eloquent and you should be proud of yourselves for that eloquence. I know that your families are”

He further stated;

“You are the ambassadors for your faith in every walk of your life”

MSP, James Kelly commented;

“Can I just say, what an honour it is to be invited to be a witness to this ceremony this afternoon. I am really impressed by how articulate the young people were and how committed they were and I think that it is a credit to their teachers and their parents and they were able to stand up and speak in such a vast audience. What really came through to me is their sincerity in their speeches.”

He also added;

“You want to try and make a difference and you also want a sense of respect and that really came through the speeches with the real commitments you were making about setting up a food bank, you want to make a difference not only to your own community but also to the wider community.”

Towards the end of the ceremony, the following awards were presented to the students by the guest:

Girls:

• Afifa Ahmed 3rd position
• Maryam Shakoor 2nd position
• Haneen Fatima 1st position

Boys

• Ali Hyder 3rd position
• Yakoob Hayat 2nd position
• Sufyan Khalid 1st position

Certificates of achievement were also presented to all students on the completion of their first year.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Award

Allama Shahid Babar’s daughter – Haneen Fatima was also presented Shaykh ul Islam Award for her outstanding performance.

A set of Shaykh-ul-Islam’s books were presented to the guest by Dr Khalid Mahmood (President MQI Glasgow) and Usman Nazir (Gen.Sec.RCC MQI Scotland)

The ceremony ended with the note of thanks by Dr Muhammad Rafiq Habib and Usman Nazir.

A huge round of applause and credit also goes to the teachers - Allama Shahid Babar, Dr Muhammad Rafiq Habib, Shaykh Muhammad Abbas, Hafiz Imtiaz and whole team of MQI Glasgow for taking their time out and dedicating it to guide and teach the future ambassadors of knowledge and peace and also organising such a successful event.