Glasgow imams are being drafted in by youth workers to help with what they describe as the growing problems of addiction and crime among the young Pakistani Muslim community.
It's hoped that by using figures that hold a position of great respect they'll be able to better connect with youths.
Many people within the Pakistani Muslim community in Pollokshields believe that no matter what situation a young Muslim man is in, they still hold the Mosque in high esteem.
When local youth workers started to see increasing rates of gang violence and drug addiction, they realised that the problems could not be dealt with in the same way as they might be for white youths.
Youth workers told the BBC that levels of anti-social behaviour were rising at a faster rate in Pakistani Muslim teenagers.
"Something that took the white Scottish community 30 years to escalate to, in terms of gangs and addiction, is maybe taking these Asian young people three years - and that's very concerning," said Umar Ansari, of the Youth Community Support Agency (YCSA), based in Pollokshields.
The youth justice service manager said young Muslims tended to view hard drugs as less of an evil than alcohol.
He said: "Drugs are always a problem, they're a big problem here, you look at young Muslims - they'll smoke cannabis, they'll take cocaine, they'll take ecstasy and somewhere after they'll drink alcohol; that's how bad they see that drug and so if you deal with the problem exactly the same (as white youths) it's not right."
Despite being a non-religious organisation, the YCSA felt that by working together with the Mosques it could have more of an impact.
Umar said: "They might not pray at all but they know who the imam is."
Role models
He said that in workshops it is clear that for these British Pakistanis, religion is something they never forget: "They talk about role models and they'll talk about Tupac Shakur but they'll also name religious figures from history".
The Masjid Noor Mosque sits in the heart of Pollokshields. The imam there told the BBC that he got involved when he was made aware just how severe problems of drugs and alcohol had become in the community.
He said: "Obviously things are not going to change overnight. The whole issue is that we've got to have a lot of sincerity in what we do.
"We truly want them to become better people - and that means sometimes you have to go out of your way to do a lot of things that you wouldn't normally do. If we don't show them that we really care, we'll never be taken seriously."
The reaction from young people in the area has been positive, although no-one is under the illusion problems can be solved overnight.
Umar said: "They're not people you want to give an image that you're a mess-about, you can forget doing anything in front of them.
"It may go out one ear and out of the other - but for some it will go in because they look at them as an elder."
And as for the onewho fears standing in front of His Lord and restrainsthe soul from impure evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode [79:40-41]
if the imams had not got together and been dealing with this already they they've been neglegent in the first place.
in sheffield at the masjid i prayed at the imam addressed drugs often, we took kids in off the streets, spoke with them, tried to put them in good company, alhamdulillah it worked in quite a few different cases,
but it takes time and effort and for people to treat the masjid as more than just somewhere they go to pray 5x a day.
I don't think it'll work, these muslim 'badboys' are too stubborn to listen to others. I think the parents should be bringing them up in a purely islamic way from the start and remove all culture crap like bollywood etc
I don't think it'll work, these muslim 'badboys' are too stubborn to listen to others. I think the parents should be bringing them up in a purely islamic way from the start and remove all culture crap like bollywood etc
i've seen it work, ok some elder walks up once in a while and starting chatting to these kids about the 6 points of tableigh they might be polite but they certainly wont be interested, ok not true some will and i've seen drug addicts come off it through the TJ but generally we have a different generation and a different approach is needed.
so if someone makes effort to get to know them, their problems, give them some islamic solutions then sooner or later some of them will turn back and if you can one you can often get his mates also.
it really helps though if you have an excellent english speaking imam who can talk on a level with the youth so when he has the one chance a week at jummah to speak to some of them they might actually listen rather than just switching off like most of the youth do.
once you have that you need some practicing youth to offer alternative friendship circles and having some good activities like weekly football and paintballing etc really helps as well.
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