Best Youth Service Award – Shortlisted Mosque 2024
(BICS) Youth Programme
Premise: “Empowering Youth with Faith, Character and Community.”
Our Youth Objectives:
1. Growing up in the Worship of Allah:
• Create a nurturing environment for worship and learning.
• Utilise the Masjid as a hub for educational and extracurricular activities.
• Foster comfort and an attraction to the Masjid, evidenced by a BICS record high youth event attendance (circa 150 attendees from 28+ nationalities last week).
2. Establishing an Islamic Identity:
• Help youth understand and embrace their Muslim identity.
• Provide training on defending Islam, from discussing the oneness of Allah to addressing contemporary issues like LGBTQ.
3. Future Leaders of Tomorrow:
• Focus on personality development and leveraging unique skills for Islam.
• Encourage youths to utilise their skills and professions (e.g., doctor, solicitor, accountant) in service of Islam.
• Emphasise gratitude to Allah by using one’s abilities in His way.
The vision was to make Bracknell Masjid a ‘second home’ for our Youth, giving them every reason to attend the masjid. The Youth Programme has grown from strength to strength reaching record numbers of youth participating in activities in 2024.
Our highlights being:
– Regular Youth Nights, attracting 100+youth. A blend of Islamic study with Q&A, competitive team sports, dinner and at its heart & congregational prayer.
– Weekly Grappling & Karate sessions (different age groups) within our purpose-built gym area. The large room featuring soft mats throughout and will soon facilitate activities for toddlers and young children
– Summer Salah Campaign held in the Summer of 2024 to target 50 salah at home and in the masjid for the youth.
– Educational workshops addressing essential topics such as Islamic finance, public speaking, the history of Palestine and the significance of Masjid Al-Aqsa. Our youth were placed into groups tasked with writing a letter of solidarity to a ‘friend’ in Gaza and creating a travel brochure promoting the sacred masjid. Poems & Letters written by the youth that evening brought tears to our eyes (see Youtube footage).
– Ramadan Youth Nights are a favourite amongst our young community as they get to spend the whole night at the mosque, enjoying iftar and suhoor meals, Quran recitation, nerf gun battles, mosque building activities and lots more.
Additional outdoor sessions include swimming and football and we have netball starting fortnightly for our young Muslim girls.
This summer, BICS arranged family trips to Gulliver’s Land, hikes to the South Coast and a hands-on experience to UKs first Muslim Farm (Willowbrook), the kids got to feed the animals, split wood and forage in the farmlands.
Our annual BBQ event attracted hundreds of community members, remembered most for the huge inflatables and Imam’s prizes gifted to the Youth for reciting publicly.
Alhamdulillah, all blessings are from Allah. We simply facilitate an environment for the growth of our youth in Islam. Once a small, unknown Muslim community, now thrives with the presence of Youth, not just from Bracknell, but established Muslim communities in surrounding areas.
We continually strive to be pioneers in establishing a Youth-intrinsic Islamic Society.
Exterior features include a combination of metal cladding and brick detailing, which give the building a sleek and modern look to achieve a balance between creating a local landmark along the busy A-road and addressing the sensitive residential context. The use of perforated screens adds an extra layer of texture while also allowing natural light to filter into the interior spaces.
