Young Muslim Organisation (YMO) is an Islamic youth-oriented initiative based in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was established mainly by the

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis () are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots are from Bangladesh. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since World War II. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s, with ...

youths in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

during the period of racial attacks in Tower Hamlets in 1978. The group first met in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in October 1978 to bring together what its website describes as "a dynamic band of youth who would respond to the challenges faced by their community with deep faith, true commitment and a positive and comprehensive work plan". Its

dawah ' (, , "invitation", also spelt , , , or ) is the act of inviting people to Islam. The plural is () or (). Preachers who engage in dawah are known as da'i. Etymology literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Gramma ...

work includes ''School Link Project'' (SLP), ''College Link Project'' (CLP) and ''University Link Project'' (ULP) which organise activities such as lectures, seminars, awards ceremonies, camps, and sports activities. Authors such as Brian Belton and Sadick Hamid describe the group as catering for and run by young people of Bangladeshi origin. It is a competitor to another Islamic youth work group, The Young Muslims UK. The two groups have minimal differences but the Young Muslim Organisation has a more conservative interpretation of

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

and

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

. According to a former activist,

Ed Husain Ed Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a British author and a professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments across the world. Husain is a senior fello ...

, YMO was founded by supporters of

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

and

Hassan al-Banna Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential g ...

, and its early members were encouraged to follow their works. Husain describes the organisation as being structured in a hierarchy with ordinary members at the bottom, followed by pillar members, and the National Executive Committee of the YMO at the top. Ordinary members become pillar after years of activities and proving one's loyalty when they take a vow and swearing allegiance to the leadership. At least when Husain was a member in the early 1990s,

East London Mosque The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accomm ...

was a YMO stronghold from which the organisation was working to spread. Members were expected to an account of their daily activities (how many hours they spent on prayer, reciting the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, reading

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

and other Islamic books, etc.) reporting their achievements at the YMO weekly meeting.

Notes and references

Islamic organisations based in the United Kingdom Islamist groups 1978 establishments in the United Kingdom Islamic organizations established in 1978 {{Islam-org-stub