About

Assalaamu Alaikum:

 

History of Association of Scottish Muslims

 

Association of Scottish Muslims (formely CEPA) is a registered charity founded in 2001 by concerned Muslims from Edinburgh . Its purpose is to work with the Muslim community and statutory organisations to build an infrastructure to provide a range of services to promote the inclusion, the development and the welfare of Muslims, enabling them to become a responsible and thriving part of civic life.

 

Aims

 

The main aim of A.S.M is to promote the physical, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual development of all members of the Muslim community and in particular of young people, through the provision of a broad range of educational, recreational and welfare opportunities.

To promote good relations and mutual respect between the Muslim community and all other communities.

To enhance the quality of life and to promote the social inclusion of members of the Muslim community by enabling them to participate in and contribute fully to all aspects of civic life.

 

Objectives

To develop good relationships between communities, we will work in partnership with other organisations e.g. Police, Council, Education, Health, Sports and all other service departments both local and National becoming the first point of contact for those wishing to reach out to the Muslim community.

To contribute to social, cultural, spiritual, economic enhancement of all aspects of the lives of members of the Muslim community, we will work alongside policy makers and strategy developers so that the voice of the Muslims is heard and we will co-ordinate service implementation to grass root level.

To promote the development of Muslims through education, recreation and welfare opportunities we will provide (Muslims and wider community)

A) Opportunities to learn and understand Islam, through training, chaplaincy work, dialogue, discussion and social interaction.
B) Classes of Religious (Islamic), Culture identity and citizenship Education in Scotland , developing a Syllabus using recognised and approved resources leading to the Standard Grade, GCSE, A-level and B.A. Qualifications
C) A one stop community base within Edinburgh , in furtherance of the above purposes, to give Muslims and their families’ greater access to information and services.
D) Sports & outdoor bounds activities leading to awards and badges in cultural & religiously sensitive environments.

To do all other things as will properly attain the above aims & objectives.

 

Background/History

 

Association of Scottish Muslims formely City of Edinburgh Pakistan Association was established through the efforts of a few local Businessmen in 2001.

A.S.M has been working with the Muslim community providing a range of services starting with Islamic education and access to sports and recreation in an attempt to develop the identity of young Muslims.

We had set this as one of the main priorities of A.S.M especially for the youth realising the issues relating to youth identity crisis in the country. We set up key services over the last 5 years to focus on this, giving young people the knowledge and skills to enable them to become comfortable as young Muslims living in Scotland . Enabling them to extend into their peers and society with the confidence needed to become an integral part of society. Having consulted the youth, we put their views at the forefront enabling us to develop services that they identified, and delivering these services by service providers whom they felt comfortable with.

These grass root level services were initially developed over a geographical area of northwest Edinburgh but now with the team that we have in place and in partnership with many other agencies have been set up over a significant area of Scotland.

As a priority, we aim to work with and influence the policymakers in several key disciplines.

We aimed to develop a range of services which they were able to recognise and support. Over the last number of years we have developed a good relationship with other agencies and organisations within Scotland to include recreation and welfare for the youth and community at large.

 

What makes us different?

 

We believe we have the staff who understand Islam in depth and with the experience of living and being brought up in Scotland . Progressing through universities enables us to provide a service which no other agency can match.