Our Story

1960's

It all began in a one bedroom house situated on North Parade (current day Alpine Close) which was used as a Madrasah. Maulana Yaqub Qawi Saheb recommended the name of Madrasah Hussainiyah for the Madrasah and thus the first Madrasah in Mount Pleasant was established with approximately 10 – 15 students and one Ustaad. Late Maulana Umar Mulla Saheb was invited from India to teach the children and lead the local Muslims in prayer. He continued this service up until 1978.

During his time, the Muslim population multiplied with the demand to increase the Madrasah capacity too, so the old Methodist Church and Sunday school building was bought in 1968. The whole building was refurbished and used as a Madrasah and Masjid.

1980's

In 1984 Mount Pleasant Islamic Trust (MPIT) was formed and its first major action was the purchase of the Trade and Friendly Club on Purlwell Lane. This was soon transformed into a place where Islamic knowledge would flourish and was easily accessible by the local Muslims too. 369 students benefited from this endeavour. Under the recommendation of Hadhrat Sheikh Moulana Yusuf Motala Saheb, the Madrasah was aptly named Madrasah Islamiyah. Mount Pleasant Islamic Trust recognising the need to teach and learn Islam within an English Medium considered and went about inviting Hadhrat Maulana Mufti Faheem Mayet Saheb from South Africa to take up the position of Head Teacher and the responsibility of transitioning the Islamic syllabus which was commonly being taught in an Urdu medium into an English medium. As before, the ever increasing population of the local Muslims demanded a bigger and suitable centre of learning; student population since 1984 (369 students) had almost doubled by 1997. Thus the construction of a purpose built Maktab was contemplated and discussed for the first time.

1990's

In 1997 plans to erect a purpose built Maktab on both of the sites available to the Trust were drawn up. Due to the difficulties in building a three storey Maktab on the existing site of the Madrasah Islamiyah, it was considered best to elect a Maktab on the recently purchased site adjacent to the Masjid.

2000's

In 2001, the foundation brick of the new Madrasah Islamiyah was laid by the blessed hands of Hadhrat Maulana Sheikhul Hadeeth Masleehuddin Saheb (DB). The inauguration ceremony of the New Madrasah Islamiyah building was conducted and blessed by the honourable and esteemed presences of both Hadhrat Maulana Sheikh Yusuf Motala Saheb and Hadhrat Hafiz Muhammad Patel Saheb.

The work on the Madrasah project commenced initially at a cost of £1.8million rising finally to £2.7 million adding an extra floor to the original plan.

In present day, the Madrasah have a team of more than fifty dedicated and committed members of staff. Furthermore, there are now, more than 800 students being taught the Qur’an, Fiqh, Seerah, Hifz and various other particulars of Islam within a modern and spectacular building made up of 40 classrooms, prayer halls on each floor, w/c facilities on each floor, offices, libraries, a large and spacious hall used both to deliver advanced classes to girls and supplementary classes to the local ladies who desire to improve and increase their knowledge of Islam. This hall is also used on occasions when there Islamic lectures and presentation ceremonies take place. Madrasah Islamiyah is conducting and operating a successfully pre-school set up (Darul Urquoom Nursery) within the building. The Trust is built for various religious, educational, and social elements and above all the Madrasah is being used to its full potential with students of over 1000 and increasing yearly.