Young Muslims ring in the new year by cleaning Oxford’s busiest streets

WHILE most of Oxford was still in bed a selfless group of youngsters got up early on New Year’s Day to clean some of the city’s busiest streets.

A team of nine from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) took to some of the busiest parts of the city, including Queen Street, St Aldate’s and Bonn Square, from 7am on January 1.

The ‘Big Street Clean’ was just one of the many community initiatives carried out by the AMYA over the festive period.

The group also organised blood donation sessions, charity collections, children’s hospitals and nursing home visits, and sessions to give food to the homeless.

Nasir Ahmad, youth leader for Oxford AMYA, said: “Our members have enjoyed living in Oxford for decades and so any opportunity to help our local community is much welcome.

“Cleaning the streets of Oxford also presents us with an opportunity to become better Muslims as cleanliness is an integral part of our faith.

“We are peace loving British Muslims and will continue to do all we can to serve our local community as best we can and wherever there is a need.”

The association was established in 1938, and has a long-standing history for service-oriented projects.

In 2017 alone, it raised more than £600,000 for various British charities, planted 25,000 trees, fed 14,000 people living in poverty and visited more than 6,000 people in care homes and hospitals to counter loneliness.

In addition, AMYA members donated 250 units of blood and donated more than 5,200 kg of produce to food banks, as well as 4,500 kg of clothes.

The organisation focuses on helping young Muslims become better citizens and fulfil their religious obligations of serving God and humanity.

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