Best mosque in Britain?

[AbuMareyam]

Faith meets reality TV in contest to find the best mosque in Britain

· Winner to be picked from eight finalists next month
· 'Mystery worshippers' used to help selection


There are no nasty judges, booing crowds, tearful auditions or backstabbing. But the competition is just as tough. Eight mosques are vying to become Britain's Model Mosque 2007 in a televised competition which marries halal principles with the knock-out rules of reality TV.
The series, shown tonight on the Islam Channel, is not a beauty pageant, as aesthetics are not important. Instead, mosques are assessed on their interfaith work, women's facilities, youth services and their transparency on finances, policies and management.

Judges used these criteria to whittle the candidates down from 500 mosques to eight. The finalists hail from Bradford, Birmingham, Cricklewood, Croydon, Glasgow, Haringey, Leyton and Manchester.

The show started as a personal quest for Model Mosque producer Abrar Hussain, 29. "I wasn't too keen on my local mosque and my friend's one sounded better, it was doing stuff that mine wasn't and I was a bit jealous. There is so much disparity between mosque standards and the show is a way for mosques to see the positive work that is already being done. It's not about being horrible and embarrassing bad mosques. There's no nastiness. Nobody wants to be Simon Cowell."

Each week a presenter grills two mosque representatives in the studio and viewers text in to keep in their favourite. The mosque with the most votes moves to the next stage. There will be a live final next month in front of the 25,000-strong Muslim crowd attending the Global Peace and Unity event at London's Excel Centre, and it will be broadcast to a potential audience of billions.

Judges include Respect councillor Salma Yaqoob and Sir Iqbal Sacranie, from the Muslim Council of Britain. The winning mosque scoops a £35,000 consultancy prize, which will support funding and training proposals.

Organisers are also keen to use the programme as a way of dispelling fears non-Muslims have about mosques. They dispatched questionnaires to 1,000 mosques and received 450 responses.

Mr Hussain described the 14-month selection process as rigorous. "We did internet research, looked at press coverage, spoke to regular worshippers, prayed there ourselves - like mystery shopping. We did our homework. We did not find any evidence of this radicalisation that's supposed to be everywhere. The big surprise is how many good mosques are out there. I was also surprised to see how willing people were to help out."

He and the channel's chief executive, Mohammed Ali, are wary of the show being interpreted in a non-religious way. Mr Ali said: "It's not the X-Factor because there is no singing and dancing and it's not mosque idol because worshipping idols is forbidden."

But they both appreciate that the popularity of reality TV is helping to attract a youthful audience. Mr Ali said it was crucial for the older generation to involve younger people in daily mosque activity.

Many younger Muslims, particularly women, have complained that mosques are run by small cliques of men from distinct clans or families rather than by the wider community. "The transition of power between the two generations is very important. We don't want to see conflict. There has to be a smooth handover, like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair."

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/s ... 73,00.html

[Morning Dew]

Lol. I'd be quite interested in seeing the result of this contest.

MD

[frodo]

I could start a fight by asking which is the best mosque in Walsall? But its ramadan so I will resist the temptation.

[De_Anima]

Is it me or did frodo just ask the question anyway? haha

[AbuMareyam]

Mosques told to obey new code of conduct


Muslim groups draw up rules to fight extremists and allow women's rights


British mosques will be expected to modernise and do far more to outlaw extremist Islamic teaching under new rules drawn up by Muslim leaders.
For the first time, a code of standards will allow mosques and their imams to be supervised and regulated. At present, there is no set of rules governing the running of Britain's 1,500 mosques.

Among the core standards set out in the draft, and seen by The Observer, is the stipulation that members must offer programmes that 'actively combat all forms of violent extremism within the society at large'. All mosques will have to carry out regular checks on their staff, and offer mainstream religious teaching.

But the code, drawn up by members of the four main Muslim organisations, will also offer Muslim women much greater protection. Imams will be expected to make it clear to their followers that forced marriages are completely 'unIslamic', as are violence or harassment in domestic disputes.

The move comes against the backdrop of growing concerns about extremist ideology being propagated within mosques. Last week, it was revealed that pamphlets advocating the suppression of women's rights, hatred for non-Muslims and the execution of lapsed Muslims had been found at some large centres.

The new standards, set out by the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, Minab, will be introduced next year. The Muslim groups have opted for a form of self-regulation rather than government-imposed rules. Mosques which join will face random checks by trained teams to ensure that standards are met - but those which don't sign up will come under pressure to explain their stance.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, who last week announced she would make £25m available to train imams to spot signs of dangerous fundamentalism, said she also wants to see how policy can be shaped to encourage a bigger role for women. 'We need a new generation of women leaders, and that is quite a cultural challenge,' she said.

Blears is dismissive of critics who say the veil or hijab is holding women back. 'I think we talk too much about what women wear, not enough about what they do. We need to listen to people from all walks of life and find a way of giving them a stronger voice

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/ ... ed=society