Glasgow University student Aijaz Ul-Najeeb Mohammad was presented with the Male Inspirational Young Scottish Muslim award at the inaugural Young Scottish Muslims Conference & Awards.

The conference was opened by Fergus Ewing, Minister of Community Safety, and the keynote address was given by Chairman of Muslim Aid, Farooq Murad.

Aijaz was nominated in glowing terms: "... a young man of 22 from a modest background who was awarded a scholarship to Hutchison’s Academy in Glasgow and went on the study Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Along the way he became the Chair of Glasgow University Muslim Student Association (GUMSA), helping raise money for Medicine Sans Frontiers and recently helping donate £1000 to Red Crescent in Lebanon – all whilst balancing academic work and family commitments."

The award is a significant achievement as there were over 40 nominations for only four categories of award.


The conference was hosted by actor Elaine C Smith

During the conference, held at the Royal Concert Hall, over 250 people attended workshops addressing a range of significant issues – Media; Youth Justice/Leadership; Addiction; Employment; Education; Who Are Young Scottish Muslims; Religion, Culture & A Way of Life.

The conference was supported by the Scottish Executive and Strathclyde Police, and a range of business and community organisations.

Shereen Nanjiani, a vocal supporter of the conference, said: "At last! An event which focuses on the positive contributions young Muslims can and do make to Scottish society. With so much focus in the media on terrorism and extremism it's more important than ever that all points of view are heard and our young people often get overlooked. Hopefully this will be the first of many."

Pictured above are the award winners:
Back, left to right: two representatives of Lanarkshire Mosque, with three female award-winners – Haram Afzal, Ikram Salad & Roshni Hafeez
Front, left to right: Aijaz Ul-Najeeb Mohammad, Zuhayr Malik, Javed Aslam


First published: 6 July 2007

<< July