Pupils from Islamic schools take part in 'Big Community Tidy Up'

Madrassahs, parents, trainee-scholar students, joined  community representatives in the initiative.

The campaign was organised as part of the Ilm 2 Amal (Knowledge to Action), a grassroots curriculum specialising in character development and active citizenship for students attending Madrassahs and Muslim faith-schools in Britain.
 

For several months, numerous local Madrassahs have undergone training in their classrooms, with teachers empowering their students to participate in social responsibility and citizenship efforts.

Learning in the classroom has been followed up each week with calls to positive action in the home and in the local community.

The Big Community Tidy Up was a prime example of the many social responsibility campaigns being organised by Ilm 2 Amal: Knowledge to Action in order to engage local Madrassahs and schools. 

Working in partnership with Blackburn with Darwen  Council's ‘Your Call’ campaign and the Islamic seminary Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda, this campaign was just one of many fruits blossoming from months of hard work, delivery and planning. 

Stretched across the whole day, the  campaign saw the students cover three different areas of Blackburn: Roe Lee, Davenport Road and Infirmary Road, and ran from early morning until mid-afternoon.

Hafiz Mushtaq Isap, Principal at Madrassah Anwaar ul Quraan, said, “Our pupils recently engaged with a local care home and carried out a campaign to get to know our neighbours. 

"With the support of Ilm 2 Amal, Madrassahs are now introducing new interactive methods for character building to young students and parents at home. Children are taught to fulfil the rights of God’s creation, benefit society by becoming responsible citizens and above all, to put their classroom learning into meaningful practice”. 

Eight-year old student, Hamza, in a joyful mood said, “This was the best day of my life, as we all got a free ice cream (from the local ice cream man) for doing good community work.” 

Many passerbys and local residents stopped to share their words of support and appreciation with the volunteers. One local resident from the Infirmary Road area, Dorathy Jolly, photographed on her doorstep with students and parents from Anwaar ul Quraan, showed her gratitude.

Another local resident, Hannah, who also is an independent volunteer, welcomed the large group of volunteers and directed them around the various streets. “We are quite troubled with litter in this area but to see enthusiastic volunteers spend as little as half an hour cleaning the area has made a massive difference as seen by the bags of rubbish. These children are learning about this in their education and find it interesting to get out and involved in their communities.”

There were several unique aspects about the Big Community Tidy Up Campaign – children attending different Madrassahs and hailing from different parts of Blackburn, met each other for the first time in the spirit of team work and their duty to look after the environment. 

Furthermore, the responsibility to manage young teams in several coordinated cleaning operations was put on the shoulders of senior students from the local seminary, who are training to become tomorrow’s faith leaders. 

Participating volunteer Qasim Kholwadia, a full-time student at Jamiatul Ilm wal Huda said, “I felt a moral responsibility to engage in projects such as this and I was passionately driven to put my full effort into playing a leadership role in facilitating teams of young students from local Madrassahs.”

Mufti Abdus Samad, Principal at the local seminary, was supportive of his senior students taking time out of their studies to help lead teams of young volunteers. 

He said “It was inspirational to see young students from various Madrassahs across Blackburn working together to clean different neighbourhoods all in one day. It's such values that we hope to instil in our students – to remove litter from a pathway is an act of charity and this campaign gives out a great message.” 

As a bonus, the campaign also saw parents set a good example for their children by getting their hands dirty. 

Mrs Vali, the mother of eight-year old student, Halima, from Madrassah Anisul Islam said, “I found the experience rewarding – I have to say the whole programme is absolutely fantastic as it makes children learn and think outside the box.”

Commenting on his experience, Moulana Shoayb Seedat, teacher and Vice Principal of Madrassah-e-Anisul Islam said, “Our students have enjoyed the interactive lessons, learning important values of honesty, good character, compassion for others and what it means to be part of a big community. 

"This experience has enriched learners to bring these important values and characteristics to life. Well done to all the participating students and a huge thank you to the Ilm 2 Amal team for making this happen”.

Community engagement such as this presents a powerful counter-narrative to what is popularly presented about Madrassahs today. Waqaus Ali from Ilm 2 Amal said, “Having travelled the breadth of the country, Blackburn is a very special place with some outstanding educational institutes demonstrating excellent practice. 

"I am confident that what we have seen with these Madrassahs collaborating together with the local council will help inspire others – both locally and nationally – to continue working for the common good all year around.”

Organisers would like  to thank Neighbourhood Manager, Mansoor Akhtar and his neighbourhood teams, Inter-Madrassah Organisation and the generous support from Ismail Esat.