The Belfast Islamic Centre
was established in 1978 by a group of Muslims from
the local community. Today, the centre not only
acts as a place of worship, but also is a community
centre, social-cultural centre, resource centre,
advice centre and a day centre.
It has been approximated by the Belfast Islamic
Centre that there are around 4-5 thousand Muslims
living in Northern Ireland today. The Muslims in
Northern Ireland come from over 40 countries of
origin, from Western Europe all the way through
to the Far East. The main aims and objectives of
the Belfast Islamic Centre are to: -
›To
run the Mosque, provide religious services and religious
instructions and guidance to the Muslim Community
for their moral development and to meet their religious
requirements.
›To
provide education for all sections of the community
in order to lead life in the current multi-cultural
society as a Muslim and as an ideal citizen and
to help Muslims integrate within the wider society.
›To
develop and provide social and cultural services
in order to preserve the community identity and
to create social and cultural awareness amongst
the Muslims and wider society.
›To
provide guidance and resource service, particularly
to educational institutions, hospitals and prisons,
and generally to all communities, irrespective of
their religion.
›To
provide advisory services to solve educational,
cultural and social problems of the community.
›To
provide social welfare services to the various groups
of the community, to provide funeral service and
to provide the humanitarian aid and support in all
levels of the society.
The Belfast Islamic Centre Provides the
following services: -
Children’s
Education through Schools for Arabic Language, Religious
Studies and Cultural Education.
Youth
Development through Lectures, seminars and youth
activities for guidance and Moral Education. Also
we provide Sports and Health activities for youths.
Social and Recreational programs for women run by
the women’s group.
Adult
Education through many Training Courses on topics
like management and child minding.
- Guidance and Resource Services including:
a. Community Library
b. Producing resources
and research papers for students and community groups
c. Providing resources
and guidance services for visitors, institutions,
hospitals and prisons.
- Cultural Services:
a. Organising Cultural
programmes and
b. Exhibition of Muslim
Culture and Heritage.
c. Provide Interpretation
and Translation
The Belfast Islamic Centre Also provides
many social welfare services such as Recreational
Facilities, Welfare Advice, Marriage Guidance, Family
Guidance, Counselling Services, Funeral Services
and Humanitarian Aid Services. The Islamic Centre
is now the Central Institution for the Muslim community
in Northern Ireland. The centre provides services
not only for Muslim elderly people, adults, youths
and children; it also serves the non-Muslim community
groups of various ages, and educationists from various
institutions. Its services are to meet the needs
of the people living in the area as well as the
whole of the region.
