After only three months, Imam Hassan has certainly made a lasting impression thanks to his iPad.
Imam Hassan moved to Gloucester in March to take on his new role at the Masjid-E-Noor mosque in Ryecroft Street, Barton.
“I was at university for 10 years studying Islam and after graduating I was looking for a job and before I knew it I was in Hull, as an Imam at a mosque,” said Iman Hassan, who is originally from Leicester.
“It was a predominately a white area, so I worked very closely with public sector organisations providing training sessions on how they could improve working with Muslim families in the area.
“It was basic things like teaching them the etiquette of how to enter a Muslim homeowner’s house, how to treat a Muslim patient or how to deal with domestic violence cases.
“It was an extremely successful project. I also worked closely with Humberside Police and the NHS. It gave them a chance to understand the basics of Islam and learn the meaning of certain words such as hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women.
“In the next few weeks I am giving similar workshops with the public sector in Tewkesbury.
“I love Gloucester because my mum’s side of the family and my wife are from Gloucester.
“My wife Asya will be moving to Gloucester soon where she will take up her new job as a maths teacher at the High School for Girls, which was her old grammar school.”
Imam Hassan is a Kari Hafiz, which means he can recite the Qu’ran off by heart. He wants to use a ‘forward thinking approach’ at Masjid-E-Noor.
He said: “I am very open-minded and I try to use a forward thinking approach.
“I must be the only Imam in England to use an iPad to read sermons from.
“People in the mosque said ‘wow, he is using an iPad’. I use an app on my iPad to download books and notes and I have a long list of sermons I use. I don’t like to waste paper and I don’t have lots of folders of paper, it is not good for the environment.
Source: Gloucester Citizen (2014)
