Ajmal Masroor ( bn, আজমল মসরূর; born 19 October 1971) is a

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

i-born British

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, broadcaster and politician. He is well known for being a television presenter on political discussions and on Muslim channels.

Early life

Masroor was born in

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

and came to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

at the age of one when his parents immigrated from the country. He moved back to Bangladesh a few years later at the age of seven due to his father's concerns about different cultures and the possibility of losing their Muslim identities. However, they returned when he was at the age of 13. When living in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, Masroor experienced racism against the Bangladeshis in the areas, with properties being damaged. He was brought up in

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has meant ...

, and attended the Bluegate Fields School on Cable Street. He is the oldest of six children. At the age of 19, his father attempted to force him into a marriage in Bangladesh, but was unsuccessful because Masroor challenged his father, saying

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

is not acceptable in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. He then married a Hungarian, Henrietta Szovati (who had

converted to Islam Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

), and they now have two children. He went to Hammersmith and West London College to study his GCSEs and A Levels, and while studying he was very active in student unions and founded the college's first Islamic society. Masroor took admission at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) to study BA Politics and Arabic, and then Masters at Birkbeck College in Islamic Studies. He also studied Relationship Counselling with Relate.

Career

Masroor is primarily an educator who specialises in relationship counselling, spiritual coaching and transformative training. He is an author, broadcaster and fundraiser. Masroor runs the Barefoot Institute, which provides support and education for Muslim relationship, including marriage, divorce and family counselling, mediation and coaching. He runs transformative courses using Quranic principles covering a range of subjects including Learning to be a Peacemaker, 30 Rules of Life, 10 Steps to Survival and Success, 10 Principles of Interpersonal Relationship etc. Masroor is a traveling imam (unpaid), who leads

Friday prayers In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

at various mosques across the United Kingdom including Palmers Green mosque, West Ealing mosque, Wightman Road mosque

Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of ...

. and Finsbury Park Mosque in London as well as Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool. He is also invited to lead Friday prayer at Leeds Grand Mosque and Greenwich Islamic Centre occasionally. Masroor has been involved in the Muslim Council of Britain in various capacities from its inception and was recently elected on its National Council. He spent his youth as an active member and one of the leaders of the Young Muslims and later joined the Islamic Society of Britain and served as its chairperson for three years. He was the Director of Communities in Action, an organisation founded to empower communities to organise, deliver and realise their full potential. He was the Chairman of ChildrenPlus, a charity that focused on providing humanitarian assistance to poverty stricken and most vulnerable children around the world. Masroor was selected as Liberal Democrats prospective parliamentary candidate for

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

in the 2005 General Election, but stood down after being criticised for posting on the Muslim Public Affairs Committee forum. He stood in the 2010 General Election, for the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in East London, representing the Liberal Democrats, came second with 10,210 votes (20.1%) to

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate

Rushanara Ali Rushanara Ali ( bn, রুশনারা আলী; born 14 March 1975) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010. She served as a Shadow Minister for International D ...

won with 21,784 votes (42.9%). Masroor is a well known broadcaster and presenter on various TV and Radio channels in the UK. He currently presents his own programmes on

Islam Channel Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel and online media platform funded by advertising and donations. It was founded in 2004 by Mohamed Ali Harrath (born 1963), a Tunisian act ...

and on

Channel S Channel S is a UK-based, free-to-air television channel targeting the British Bangladeshi community. The channel was established on 16 December 2004 by Mahee Ferdous Jalil, a Bangladeshi businessman in London. On Sky it at first had a timesha ...

, where he presents an English programme called ''Let's Talk''. He is also part of the panel in a programme broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, called ''

Shariah TV ''Shariah TV'' is a Muslim-themed talk show, presented by Tazeen Ahmad, broadcast on a late-night slot on Channel 4. The audience, made up of British Muslims, asks a panel questions relating to life as a Muslim in Britain. Channel 4 frequentl ...

''. On Channel 4, he also presented a programme called ''Make Me a Muslim'' - he asks six non-Muslims and one lapsed Muslim to follow Islamic teachings for three weeks. On 10 May 2009, Masroor presented a programme called "Celebrity Lives -

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

Style" which was broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. He has also appeared on major news channels such as the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links