British Pakistani receives top citizen award at UK Parliament

LONDON: Syed Muhammad Faisal Sami, a British-Pakistani religious scholar from Karachi, has been honoured with the British Citizen Award (BCA) at the Palace of Westminster for his resolute commitment to combating knife crimes across the Midlands through the platform of Dawat-e-Islami.

The Palace of Westminster, located in in London, serves as the meeting place for the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

This award is a testament to Syed Muhammad Faisal Sami's voluntary contributions to the community around Birmingham over the past 20 years, impacting thousands of lives both nationally within the UK and internationally. Syed Muhamad Faisal Sami received the coveted BCA Medal of Honour for Services to the Community (BCAc), alongside a Certificate of Honour.

"Our initiatives have included campaigns to raise awareness about knife crime, County Lines, drug abuse, nitrous oxide, fly-tipping, and speeding. These campaigns have been crucial in reducing crime and promoting community safety," Sami said giving details of his work.

"In addition to our social advocacy, we established a prison rehabilitation team, working to support and reintegrate former inmates into society from the platform of Dawat-e-Islami.

"Our commitment to environmental issues has led to the planting of thousands of trees and increased awareness about climate change.

"We have also provided humanitarian relief for global disasters, including the Pakistan floods, earthquakes in Turkey, Syria, and Morocco, the cyclone in Tanzania, and aid relief for the people of Palestine. Our effective response has been invaluable in aiding affected populations.

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced daily national initiatives to engage the public and to provide much-needed support during lockdowns.

"We established food banks to assist individuals and families facing economic hardships and set up well-being call centres to signpost callers to emergency help and governmental departments.

"We were also instrumental in the facilitation of an emergency morgue, opened in Birmingham, to deal with burial rites and to help the bereaved families who lost their loved ones to Covid-19."

The activist and scholar dedicated this prestigious award to the founder of Dawat-e-Islami Maulana Ilyas Qadri and to all those volunteers who support the organisation.

Expressing his gratitude, Sami, in his award acceptance speech, credited the tireless teamwork for his achievements. "This recognition is not just for me but for all the volunteers and supporters of Dawat-e-Islami who have worked tirelessly alongside me. Our collective efforts have made a difference, and I hope this award inspires more people to contribute to their communities."

Last year, the West Midlands Police gave the Outstanding Citizen Award to Mr Sami for dedicating his life to tackling knife crimes in the region and hailed him as a community champion.  

"Winner of the Outstanding Citizen category, Mr Sami, stood out for the impact he has made not just in the West Midlands, but nationally and globally," the West Midlands Police *WMP) said in a statement.

"As a volunteer of Dawat-E-Islami UK for the last 17 years, Mr Sami has spearheaded campaigns to tackle a range of issues including knife crime, drugs, speeding, gang culture, county lines, fly-tipping, theft and nitrous oxide. He is recognised as a true community champion and has inspired and supported thousands of people to bring a positive change in their lives," according to the WMP statement.