Shaykh Shams Adduha
Shaykh Shams is the Head Imam of Chelmsford Muslim Society
He has previously worked as a London based Imam, teacher and school governor. Throughout his career he has also worked on several educational projects, most notably Ebrahim College which he co-founded in 2003. Shaykh Shams served as its director until March 2019 when he stepped down to focus more on community work, teaching and academia.
As an educationalist, Shaykh Shams is particularly interested in developing contextualised programmes of learning for Islamic studies and the Islamic sciences for British Muslims. As a teacher he also lectures in Islamic theology, Hadith studies, and Islamic jurisprudence.
Shaykh Shams grew up in East London. He memorised the holy Qur’an and studied the Islamic Sciences at traditional Islamic seminaries (Darul Ulooms) in the UK (Dewsbury and Nottingham) and Bangladesh (Jami’ah Madinatil ‘Uloom, Sylhet) where he got his Shahadah al-Takmeel from the Wifaqul Madaris al-‘Arabiyyah (a national board for traditional seminaries). Upon his return to the UK, after some years as an Imam and setting up Ebrahim College, he completed a Masters in Islamic Studies at the University of London, Birkbeck College.
Imam Saghir Ahmad
Imam Saghir has been the Imam of Chelmsford Mosque since 1981
He was born in 1947 in Khanewal, Pakistan. As a young man he memorised the Qur’an and spent much time with scholars at the well renowned institution Jamia Rashidiyya.
In 1981, Imam Saghir was invited to the UK to take up the role of Imam in Chelmsford. Ever since he has diligently served the masjid and its community tackling every challenge that has come along. The Central Mosque opened with as little as 12 people for Jumu’ah and Taraweeh Salah. Imam Saghir has led the congregational salah for over 40 years.
Our Imam also played a huge role in the building of the masjid at Moulsham Street, ever present and working closely with the project manager Mohammed Akram to oversee the project was completed successfully.
Over the years Imam Saghir has officiated hundreds of marriage ceremonies as well as hundreds of funerals. He has had the privilege of officiating the marriages of many of his students who he had taught the Qur’an and Islam. Imam Saghir is well respected even amongst the non Muslims of Chelmsford and partakes in many interfaith events and school visits.
Throughout his career Imam Saghir has treated the masjid just as one would treat their own home, from ensuring the masjid is clean and tidy, making sure not a penny is wasted and always going above and beyond.
Imam Ahmed Iqbal
Imam Ahmed is our newest imam who started in March 2023
Born in London, from tender age Imam Ahmed had a zeal of learning about Islam. He memorised the Qur’an by the age of 11 and moved to Leicester to further his Islamic Studies by enrolling in a part-time Alim course for 3 years while studying his GCSEs. He went on to enrol at Darul Uloom in 2016 to study Arabic, Qur’an and Hadith graduating in 2021.
Previous to taking the role as the third Imam at Chelmsford, he worked at The Help Foundation as a Maktab teacher and Imam.
