Meet the Team

Farooq Mulla is a UK based trained Hafiz and Imam and has developed himself by understanding and working with different cultures. He was appointed as a Chaplain since 1995 in the Rampton hospital and is a consultant advisor for a number of organisations on issues related to Muslim community in the UK and abroad.

Currently Farooq is actively involved in developing materials and training of Muslim supplementary school teachers.

Interest in SFI:

SFI is a good platform to promote community cohesion through education and training of faith teachers.

Gurmit Kaur has a background in health research and management.  She set up The Sikh Informer in 1993 and wrote the ‘Celebrating the Success of Sikh Women’ in 1999. In addition to this, she writes for Sikhchic and Sikhnet on faith issues. She has published two books and is an active supporter of women’s equality.

Why SFI is important for you?

Gurmit Kaur is keen to encourage more equality in the Sikh Faith Institutions.

Sarvat has a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and a PGCert in Islamic Education. Her research has led her to be involved with Muslim supplementary schools commonly known as ‘Madrasahs’ in the capacity of a teacher and course coordinator. Sarvat has been trained as a trainer by the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE) to teach the ‘Effective Teaching Skills’ course and has successfully trained over 150 Madrasah teachers.

Why SFI is important to me?

“SFI fulfils my desire to work with all communities to promote peace”.

Born and bred in Pakistan, Shakil started his working life as a lecturer, moving on to community development and youth work later in Scotland. A self-confessed factotum, Shakil has been a manager, school governor, commissioner, volunteer driver and editor, among other things. Working now as a linguist, he is married with three grown-up children and is now a doting grandad too. He enjoys cycling, reading and volunteering for community projects in and outside Birmingham.

Why is SFI important for you?

“Because it does what it says on the tin, i.e, “strengthening faith institutions”. Meeting amazing volunteers and receiving their dua are big bonuses for me.”

Tamina Mir is deeply engaged with the development of communities driven by the ethics of faith and civic responsibibilty to improve the quality of life for the local community.  At the forefront of community engagement with innovation, in working towards a common goal, working on projects that sustain the challenges of social, economic and cultural change on an on-going basis.  Founder of Women Buzz Network an online platform that empowers women and ethnic minorities to turn their ideas for social good into action, through providing them with information and support.

Why is SFI important for you?

One of the aims of most faith groups is to provide support to champion and meet the needs of people in the local community. By working together with faith groups we can do and achieve more. Commit to working more closely with faith groups to support and sustain local community life. To develop research and measurement into the local impact of spiritual capital.

HM Queen Elizabeth II (1998) recognised as an young achiever and;

British Prime Minister (2000) for his outstanding contribution to the community

Recently he has turned his hobby into a business, currently the director of HCMK, a new marketing business with a vision to become the country’s leading philanthropic marketing agency within the next 5 years.  Prior to creating his business, he has had extensive experience in the public sector working for Oldham Council in Regeneration, Housing, Social Services.  After leaving the public sector he has gained experience working the third sector as a programme director of Involve Yorkshire & Humber the regional body for the third sector.

In the recent past, Muzahid has been called by Government to be a Neighbourhood Renewal Advisor and also task force member of the preventing violent extremism together.  he was the chair of Oldham Interfaith forum and still serves on the board as well as serving on the board of th Oldham mosques Council.  he is currently a board of Maggies cancer centre Oldham and Positive Steps Oldham.

Inspired a group of people from Oldham to build a village health centre in Bangladesh providing free health care for those in extreme poverty. Inspired and led a group of British cycling enthusiasts to cycle 600km across Bangladesh to raise funds for Vision Bangladesh a project of Sightsavers & BRAC.

Raised funds for MRI Scanner Appeal, Action Oldham Fund, Mahdlo Youth Zone, Christie, Dr Kershaws Hospice, Apasen international, Mayor’s Appeal Fund, and many community groups in Oldham.

Why is SFI important to me?

SFi is important to me as it’s an opportunity to support faith organisations, to become stronger.

A media commentator, blogger, teacher of Islamic Studies, inter-faith advisor, humanitarian and community activist. He has been serving at Al-Hira Cultural and Educational Centre, Luton since 2011 as the Head of Educational and Youth Services. He has hosted and presented a series of programmes for Islam Channel and British Muslim TV such as iGeneration and Living The Life amongst others.

He continues to work strenuously with both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities across different faiths and cultures. Through his initiative at Al Hira Centre the organisation has received many awards for its outreach work and for planning initiatives that actively engage with youth, women and different community groups.

Dawood advises local and national statutory bodies and law enforcement agencies in respect of Islamic and cultural issues. He is a member of the British Muslim Scholars and provides guidance to mosques and Imams (community faith leaders) in England.. In 2016 he won the Young Person of the Year Award for his contribution in bringing together and uniting different faith communities. Dawood has won many awards over the years such as: Luton’s Best Award in the Young Achiever (2014 and 2015) and Child of Courage (2014) category; Community Awards (2014), Community Cohesion Awards by Beds Police (2016), Humanitarian Award by Muslim Charity (2015) amongst others.

Why is SFI important for you?

“Because Faith Institutions in Luton are in need of the extra support that SFI provides. I’ve seen it first hand the good work that faith institutions do which is hardly recognised. SFI supports places of worship to do this much better and let their local community find out more”