‘This is the first time I’ve ever won anything in my life.’ So said Javed Aslam (21), from Pollokshields, who won the Male Young Scottish Muslim of the Year Award.

He was a terror at school and left without any qualifications. However, through the help of Youth Counselling Service Agency (YCSA) he has managed to turn his life around for the better and over the last year has become a better Muslim. He said, ‘I feel really proud of receiving this award. It means that when I meet any people in power they will recognise who I am and that is great!’

Javed, who now works part-time as a drugs and alcohol councillor at the YCSA, intends to  get a full-time job or go to college to study community development. He said, ‘When I see young, black and ethnic minority children having problems with school, police or drugs, I see myself in them and that motivates me to help them.’

Being born blind at birth has not a stopped Roshni Hafeez (24) of Govanhill, from volunteering almost all of her time to many charities and organisations. This won her the Female Inspirational Young Scottish Muslim Award.

Through her efforts she has managed to inspire people and at the same time break down the many negative perceptions people have of disabled Muslims.

Roshni converted to Islam at the age of 14. She has been a volunteer with many organisations including the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre and the British Conservation Trust. While she started her career as a trainee journalist at the BBC in Glasgow, she is currently working as a development officer for Glasgow Equalities Partnership.

She said, ‘I am humbled by receiving this award. It’s really great to be recognised for all the work I’ve done in terms of highlighting disability issues.’

The first ever Scottish Muslim Youth Conference and Awards ceremony was held in  Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

The conference, in the form of workshops, tackled a wide range of issues from media, youth, justice and addiction to employment, religion and identity.

This was followed by the awards ceremony which attracted more than 40 nominations for the four award categories.

The other winners were:

Female Young Scottish Muslim (YSM) of the year - Haram Afzal (21)

Inspirational Male YSM - Ajaz Ul-Najeeb Mohammed (22)

Female Talent of Tomorrow - Ikram Salad (17)

Male Talent of Tomorrow - Zuhayr Malik (15)

Young Scottish Youth Project - Lanarkshire Masjid