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Best Convert Care Award – Shortlisted Mosque 2024
In a predominantly white, upper-middle class area, The Olton Project (TOP) is a beacon of inspiration for those interested in Islam, thanks to the determined hard work and efforts of it’s leader, revert Shaykh Dr. Daniel Jackson and his wife, Ustadha Suzan Ahmed. They have welcomed dozens of new Muslims to Islam through their friendly approach, open ears and sympathetic advice. I should know, I was the first person to revert after discovering their way of teaching.
The TOP community embraces a wide demographic of Muslims – we have Egyptians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, Sri Lankans, Yemenis, Syrians, Algerians, Germans, Turks, Jordanians, Malaysians – and that’s just within the core management and teaching team. Our visitors come from an even wider range of backgrounds, and it’s this breadth and sense of world community that makes being a revert incredibly easy.
You are not an alien, your are not alone – you are how all these people from around the world come together with the unified front of being Muslim and think “I’m just the same. We’re all the same”. There’s no isolation, because your are a revert – everyone is given equal time to tell their stories and share their experiences. Daniel and Suzan created the “Re-View” programme after many other Shaykhs passed on details of people interested in Islam for them to help and support. The group meet monthly, to discuss books, to share stores and have their questions answered, without prejudice or shame.
Reverts who joined the community years ago still attend, because they want to be there – to pass on their knowledge and encourage others. They have social dinners and outings together and after then given the opportunity to speak publicly at one of these mosques wider gatherings (if they’re willing!). Myself and another female revert we’re also invited to teach at the children’s madrassah, sharing our enthusiasm with the younger students. The positive nature of the Friday Khutbahs also appeal to reverts, who need that enlightenment and drive at regular intervals to continue to seek knowledge after they’ve taken their Shahada. There’s always ample space for women and children are welcomed – something revert mothers struggle with, balancing wanting to attend the masjid and fulfilling their duties as a mother.
TOP accommodates then with a playroom with live feed to the talk, not just on Jummah but with all their events with visiting Shaykhs. TOP also encourages revert speakers to deliver talks to the wider community – whether it’s myself, a revert through TOP of 15 years, giving mosque tours and organising visits for local primary schools, or prominent figures such as Anse Tamara Gray, who visits TOP from the USA to give talks to women annually.
The reverts that come to Islam through the TOP community don’t vanish into the mist, they stay present as part of the community, broadening it further, giving Islam a face of all-inclusive nationality, race, class and gender.
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