London Central Mosque Trust & The Islamic Cultural Centre

The Director General, Dr Ahmad Al Dubayan in his opening speech stated that "the best way for increasing engagement and community relations is knowledge, knowledge is the cornerstone to build relations within communities... ...ignorance brings only hatred and discrimination and destroys relations"

Dr Dubayan said that through the activities and programmes held at the Islamic Cultural Centre for the wider community, it is very important to spread knowledge through education and for working together with other community organisations for building trust and spreading knowledge, especially with the youth."

 
He also mentioned that under the supervision of the Trustees, The Islamic Cultural Centre is providing a number of educational programmes, one of these courses in particular is the 'introduction to Islam for Muslims and non-Muslims Programme' and that this new initiative within the last 12 months had seen an astounding 2,200 participants on the one course. The registered attendees for this course originated from an amazing 78 different countries and this was a true reflection upon how wide and diverse the great city of London truly is; communities within communities.

Dr Dubayan went on to say that "These courses are used not only to teach knowledge but also to discuss many issues: religious issues, current issues and social issues. The Islamic Cultural Centre wants community members to feel that this is a centre which is giving a message of peace, tolerance and co-operation with everybody in society" he also said that the centre stood for supporting dialogue, interfaith and increasing social and cultural relations throughout the wider community.

The Home Office Director for OSCT Charles Farr OBE thanked Dr Dubayan for arranging the event and also for his leadership at the Islamic Cultural Centre.

Charles Farr thanked the Islamic Cultural Centre for all its services and programmes which it offers to the whole of the community and said "ICC is a fantastic institution, a place where we can meet and debate issues and come up with solutions for problems which is invaluable."

Charles Farr also spoke about how he was struck by the extraordinary generosity of Muslims in giving charitable assistance to those in need of humanitarian assistance and the great collaboration between government, organisations such as the ICC and community members in such times of crisis.

He went on to say that a collaborative partnership was essential for all of society including the security of Muslim communities within the United Kingdom.

Charles Farr ended his speech by thanking the Islamic Cultural Centre for its leadership and hoped we could meet again on such occasions again in the future.

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Bernard Hogan Howe also thanked the Islamic Cultural Centre for hosting the event and spoke about how London is one of the world's greatest cities with 1.25 million Muslims.

He spoke about how London was one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world and how we all needed to understand each other and respect our differences and work together for this great peaceful city.

He stated that in the great city of London which has 8.5 Million people there are only 100 murders a year and that we would all continue working together to keep it that way, safe and secure.

Chief Executive of the Charity Commission Paula Sussex said how she was delighted to be speaking at the Islamic Cultural Centre and spoke of the very strong link between faith and charity.

She said that, during Ramadan 2014, the Muslim community in London had raised an incredible £20 Million for a vast array of charitable purposes and that the Charity Commission absolutely "celebrated" this fact.

Paula went on to say that, of the 164,000 charities, 32,000 charities had a religious purpose from which 1,700 had objects to promote Islamic Purposes, she said that these charities were "a force for the good".

She also spoke in regards the Charity Commission supporting the Muslim community through its safer giving campaign during Ramadan to create greater awareness for outwitting fraudsters and prevent funds from falling into the hands of criminals and terrorists. She ended her speech by congratulating the Islamic Cultural Centre for its "extraordinary charitable efforts during Ramadan".

---