Liverpool Echo
Saturday April 22, 2023
By Zeenia Naqvee
One volunteer is using his Muslim faith to empower the youth of Toxteth and keep its sense of community alive
Abdi Ahmed from the Al Rahma Mosque.(Pic Andrew Teebay). (Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Muslims are currently celebrating the holy month of Ramadan before the Islamic calendar moves on to the Eid ul Fitr celebrations.
The celebrations, which means 'festival of breaking' the fast signals an end to the dawn-to-dusk daily fasting of Ramadan. Based on attempts to sight the moon in the UK, Eid will either be tonight or Saturday, April 22.
This is a huge event for Liverpool’s 30,000 Muslims as Abdi Ahmed tells me after I visited the city’s largest mosque, Al-Rahma, in L8 on Hatherley Street.
The 20-year-old is a volunteer for the mosque and a first-year politics student at the University of Liverpool. Al-Rahma Mosque was established by a Yemeni sailor in 1953 who wanted a space for the newly emerging Muslim community.
The sailor, Al-Haj Ali Hizzam worked with Malaysian, Somali and Gujarati seamen to craft Al-Rahma, which saw completion in 1974. The mosque stands tall with two minarets and one dome, typical of Islamic architecture.
Abdi feels that Ali Hizzam’s intercultural legacy is still alive in the area – which he calls a “beacon of multiculturalism.” Born and raised in Toxteth, Abdi is proud to be a part of the “vibrant” Somali community.
It doesn’t surprise me that over 65 nationalities pray at Al-Rahma. “Lodge Lane nearby has over 100 languages spoken there,” according to Abdi, who speaks English, Somali and Arabic.
In his gap year, Abdi completed outreach work in Africa but continues to honour the late sailor’s commitment to diversity while volunteering at the mosque.
He said “When it comes to Toxteth, volunteering causes betterment within our community and this will be felt by Christians, Muslims, members of the Caribbean community and more. It’s about uniting different communities together.”
Abdi plays a huge part in recreating Ali Hizzam’s sense of community. For example, the mosque has hosted career guidance sessions in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University. They host students every Friday to help with their personal statements.
Sessions are open to both Muslims and non-Muslims and aim to further educational attainment in Toxteth. Abdi tells me how his faith lets him reconnect with his background in outreach.
He said: “One of the five pillars of Islam, zakat, orders members of the faith to help people who are struggling. And during the cost-of-living crisis, this is particularly pertinent.
“This Ramadan we estimate our community’s combined zakat to total £20,000 and we will give this to the needy, Muslim or not. In our faith, God almighty focuses on giving attention to the sick and needy and it brings a sense of community naturally.
“We have an open-door policy and let anyone in need come to us.”
As a young man, Abdi is keen on keeping young people in Toxteth safe. He runs sessions during school holidays to encourage them to stay away from drugs and violence.
The 20-year-old added: “Toxteth is known for its reputation of crime and that’s why this Easter we had a two-week youth programme discussing knife crime.
“It can be traumatic as lots of our youth live near where stabbings have taken place. We advised them on keeping safe, away from drugs, chaos, and commotion.
“It’s not all negative though, we play table tennis and basketball, and the mosque is hoping to buy some PS5s for the youth.”
The mosque’s mission to help people is arguably most alive during the holy month of Ramadan. Iftar is the Arabic term Muslims use to describe the meal that breaks their fast, often communally.
Al-Rahma Mosque, which Abdi describes as “the most central mosque in Liverpool” feeds approximately 300 people every night at their iftar, free of charge. This includes asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan who may not have papers yet.
Abdi explained: “Recent world events have seen many Muslims displaced but we also see people who have just moved to the city without friends or family. People of all ethnicities come to us.”
They serve mild food at iftar to accommodate the different cultures in the community. One person donates lamb every week to help ease cost-of-living for the mosque.
He told me that “God almighty has given us a day to celebrate with the community” and that “the more you deal with people from different backgrounds to you, the more you learn.
He said: “One of my neighbours is Jewish, others are Djibouti, Yemeni and English. Part of Toxteth’s charm is that it’s so diverse.”
Abdi also works as a tour guide when primary schools come to the mosque as part of RE. He makes sure that people of all faiths and cultures feel welcome at Al-Rahma, similar to the ethos embedded by the founder.
He said: “Islam is still unclear to a lot of people, but our doors are open to anyone of different cultures, backgrounds and religions.”
"Al-Rahma Mosque used to operate an in-house food bank to serve those struggling in the community. However, the cost-of-living crisis has imposed limitations.
“We’re a bit more strained now, we started it during the pandemic but have had to shut it for financial reasons. The open-door policy is still in place.”
Abdi has noticed that the Muslim community has grown massively over the last few years.
He said: “There are 30,000 Muslims in Liverpool. I remember growing up the mosque was mainly African but now there are a lot of Arabs and Pakistanis.
“Under one religion we have so many different backgrounds; it’s the beauty of Islam.”
Abdi will be celebrating Eid this week with his aunts, uncles, and nan, who all live nearby.
“A family tradition of ours is to feed our entire street. We will give them traditional Somali food like sambusas, rice and meat, and boxes of chocolate.
“And if people are sick, we will go to their house with food and gifts on Eid day.”