Model Mosque @ IslamChannel.tv

Model Mosque launches on Islam Channel on Saturday 29th at 5.30pm. Repeated on Tuesday at 5.30pm

| Dhul-Qi'dah 23, 1429

"Model Mosque - a national competition to find the best mosque in the UK"
"8 mosques selected from hundreds. Who will win? You decide"
"Register your vote today and help decide who will win the £35 000 consultancy prize"

"Mosques have been unfairly portrayed in the media for too long. This show is about restoring the balance."
(Producer/Director Abrar Hussain)

“It is our sincere hope that the series will stimulate a positive debate about the structure and role of Mosques in today’s Britain"
(Islam Channel CEO Mohamed Ali)

		ISLAM CHANNEL

		HOME
		ABOUT MODEL MOSQUE

		AIMS & OBJECTIVES

		JUDGES PROFILE
		FINALISTS

		HOW TO VOTE

		CRITERIA

		BACKGROUND

		FAQ's

		TERMS & CONDITIONS

		PRESS

		CONTACT US

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The idea to launch a competition to find the best mosque in the UK came about through the experiences of producers Abrar Hussain and Abid Mahi comparing their local mosques in the UK.
We found an incredible disparity between both the standards and the facilities at these local mosques; some were centres of excellence in everything they did. Others were lagging some way behind.
We found that there was a great desire within the communities and the members of these mosques to improve standards. In particular the main concerns were

1. A lack of any type of policy to assist with local level integration
2. A lack of any type of economic development policy
3. Ignorance of the role of women within the mosque
4. No provision for elderly members of the community
5. No coherent strategy to deal with extremist elements

RESEARCH PROJECT

We decided to embark on a major research project with a dedicated team assigned to research all the mosques within England, Scotland and Wales.

We discounted all mosques that were not full-time mosques (i.e. offering as a minimum the 5 daily prayers and special prayers on a Friday)

In all we compiled a list of 1000 mosques that qualified as full-time religious centres.

We then discounted all mosques that were internationally funded or “super-mosques. We wanted to concentrate our research on the local communities’ achievements.

We devised a questionnaire and sent this via post to all the mosques that were on the final list

We followed this up with telephone interviews with the General Secretaries of mosques that did not reply to the initial questionnaire.

We graded all the applicants on the basis of the set criteria which was in effect a “MINIMAL REQUIRMENT” for participation as a finalist in Model Mosque. (see Model Mosque Criteria)

If we found two qualifying mosques in the same geographical area we choose the one that best matched our criteria. For example there were several excellent applications from mosques in Birmingham and Bradford, but we only chose one mosque from each of these areas to allow as many different communities to take part in the project as possible. So consideration was also given to the geographical location of the mosque. There would be no point holding a national competition where 4 of the 8 selected mosques were from the same area!!

Having produced a shortlist we then conducted telephone interviews with the general secretaries of these mosques to arrive at our final 8 mosques.

Please see the attached list of questions and initial questionnaire that was sent out to the mosques. If you feel that your local mosque would like to apply for Model Mosque 08 please complete this questionnaires and e-mail to abid.mahi@islamchannel.tv

Questions

Questionaire