Hackney mosque opens doors to offer meals to those in need

Community sustenance: gathering for a fortnightly meal at the mosque. Photograph: Grant Kingsnorth

Once a fortnight, the Ramazan-I Serif mosque on Shacklewell Lane serves full cooked meals to the poor and those in need in Hackney. These evenings, which have grown in popularity since they started in August 2011, are now a huge success with over 80 people being served.

Hackney’s mosques do all manner of community work to support their worshippers both young and old. What is unique about the Ramazan-I Serif mosque’s community meals is that they are open to all members of the wider local community in need, irrespective of their faith.

The mosque changed its name four years ago to commemorate one of its founders who had passed away. Previously it had been known as Shacklewell Lane Mosque.

The meals project was started by brothers Ismail and Halil Kurek from a desire to do something for their local community. They had the idea after they had volunteered for the Hackney Winter Night Shelter at St Paul’s church in Stoke Newington the previous year. Both had been shocked by what they had been confronted with: local people in real need.

Using the example of Christian groups and their work with the homeless as their inspiration, the Kurek brothers and their fellow worshippers at the mosque discussed what the Muslim community could do.

At first the impetus came from the younger worshippers at the mosque but as word spread more people, including senior worshippers, wanted to be involved.

The volunteers see what they are doing in providing these community meals as an extension of their faith, in giving a service to the community and helping their fellow people.

Shortly after they had the idea, Ismail set about doing some research, aware that he was approaching this from a position of very little experience of the issues involved. He visited North London Action for the Homeless in Stoke Newington to see first-hand what they do. NLAH provide a three course vegetarian meal twice a week to those in need and have run their service for nearly 20 years.

Ismail is only too aware of all the hard work that is required to achieve what they do but is pleased with the result of everybody’s input. “We are quite rich when we come together in goodness,” he observes.

Each fortnight between six and eight volunteers, including a man in his sixties from Harrow, cook food in their own homes to bring to Shacklewell Lane. The community centre also benefits from the support of several local businesses including Tayyab’s Punjabi restaurant in Whitechapel. The menu always includes chicken or lamb biriyani, chicken legs, pilau rice, roast potatoes, pasta bake, salads and a range of desserts.

Ismail describes the volunteers as “wanting to do good for their fellow human beings.” As he says: “It is the community.”

The same could be said of those who turn up for the meals: people of all ages and backgrounds.

Ismail says the volunteers are ambitious to do more and are aiming to go weekly with the community meals around the time of Ramadan, which begins on 20 July this year.