His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), held a virtual meeting via Zoom technology with His Eminence Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Qayyum, the first imam of the famous East London Mosque in the United Kingdom, on Saturday 19 Dhul-Qi’dah 1443H corresponding to 18 June 2022G.

At the beginning of the meeting, His Excellency welcomed the first imam and his team and thanked the management of the East London Mosque for the kind invitation to visit the mosque in London and speak to the masses of Muslims in the British capital. His Excellency also expressed his willingness and honor to communicate with them on a number of issues and questions that concern the life of the Muslim community in the United Kingdom in general. His Excellency stressed that this meeting is a real beginning of strong and sustainable relations of cooperation and coordination between the Mosque and the Academy on common topics and issues of concern to both parties that serve Muslims inside and outside the Muslim world.

Then His Excellency shed light on the historical importance of the mosque, and its pivotal societal role, noting that “the mosque’s activity was not and should not be limited to performing prayers and delivering sermons only, but it should also include economic and social issues, as it should be a place to raise awareness, enlightenment, education and rehabilitation, which requires that the sermons delivered should discuss the problems of society and provide solutions to them. It should also explain in detail the calamities and developments of interest to Muslims citizens and residents, in order to capicitate and enable them to actively participate in the process of building the countries in which they live, and to contribute to their prosperity, growth and stability.” His Excellency added that he is eagerly looking forward to visiting London soon to meet the Muslim communities there, and to discuss ways to enhance cooperation and communication between the Academy and Islamic institutions in all issues and questions of concern to Muslims. His Excellency also expressed his hope that the Academy and the Mosque would sign a memorandum of understanding and cooperation that would establish a long-term strategic relationship between the two parties.

For his part, His Eminence the First Imam expressed his great pleasure and great appreciation to His Excellency the Secretary General for giving the representatives of the Mosque the opportunity to meet with His Excellency and discuss a number of issues and topics of concern to the Muslim community in the United Kingdom. His Eminence also added: “The mosque is very grateful for the intellectual and jurisprudential support provided by the Academy to religious and scientific institutions within the countries of Muslim communities, and that he personally closely follows all the activities of the Academy with interest and passion, and regularly seeks to see the Academy’s periodic publications and all its jurisprudential resolutions that he personally uses in many of the jurisprudential positions he held in the United Kingdom.”

His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Qayyum also welcomed the idea of ​​concluding a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Academy, given the position of this prestigious international jurisprudence institution, as it represents the scholars of the Muslim Ummah inside and outside the Muslim world, especially Muslim communities in the West. His Eminence emphasized that the Academy, for example, could help unify the Shariah councils in the United Kingdom in order to obtain unified positions on new developments regarding the halal industry, and other thorny social and family issues. His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Qayyum concluded by expressing the mosque’s aspiration to use the scientific capabilities of the scholars and experts of the Academy in order to achieve these noble goals and objectives.