Photos: Ehsan Shahid Choudhry BEM, Mohammed Younis OBE, and Adil Usman Rashid MBE. Below: Rizwana Mahmood-Ahmed MBE and Sarah Javaid MBE (Photos curtesy of award recipients)
Elham Asaad Buaras
Several educators, community workers, and one of the world’s best spin bowlers are among 27 Muslims celebrating recognition in the King’s Birthday Honours. They are joined by 35 members of the Hindu and Sikh communities and 16 members of the Jewish community.
The highest-profile Muslim to be named in the King’s Birthday Honours is Yorkshire and England star Adil Usman Rashid, who is to be made an MBE for services to cricket. Bradford-born Rashid is one of the world’s elite spin bowlers, winning trophies domestically and internationally.
The 35-year-old has won back-to-back County Championship titles with Yorkshire in 2014 and 2015 and has won 50-over and T20 World Cups in 2019 and 2022. He is a firm fixture in England’s limited-overs teams and has taken 338 international wickets across all formats, earning 239 caps. Reflecting on his achievement, Rashid said, “It is a very special moment. I never would have thought that I would have met the King in my lifetime. Going down to meet the King will be exciting.
“It’s nice to get recognised for the things you do on and off the pitch, not just for myself but for my family and the people who have helped contribute.
“I’m humbled by how well things have gone for me. The most important thing is to work hard, train hard, and believe in yourself. You can achieve anything regardless of where you come from and whatever your background.”
Rashid made his debut for Yorkshire in 2006 at the age of 18, having previously worked his way up through the ranks, joining the Academy at 11 years old. He took six wickets on his debut in a County Championship win over Warwickshire at Scarborough.
He went on to score 10 hundreds and top 500 wickets in a first-class career that yielded Championship titles in 2014 and 2015. Alongside his cricket career, he runs the Adil Rashid Cricket Academy in Bradford with his brother to inspire more children to play the sport. He is also an ambassador for the Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal charity, which provides free facial surgery for poor children and young adults in Pakistan.
Rashid said, “To any aspiring young people out there, I would say, ‘Work hard, believe you can achieve anything, set your mind to it, and listen to your parents’.”
Sarah Javaid, MBE
Also recognised for contributions to sport is Cycle Sisters founder Sarah Javaid, who will receive an MBE for services to cycling and the community. Javaid started Cycle Sisters in 2016 at her home in Waltham Forest in response to a lack of culturally sensitive opportunities to access cycling.
Cycle Sisters has since grown to a London-wide network of over 1,500 members, with 10 borough groups supporting hundreds of women across the capital each year to change their lives through cycling. In each borough, Cycle Sisters has partnerships with local councils that support the groups by making bikes available for members to borrow for guided rides and lessons.
Since 2016, the groups have grown from strength to strength, guided by Javaid’s dedication and belief in the importance of inclusive spaces to discover cycling. Developing a model of volunteer-run community cycling groups has enabled Cycle Sisters to have an impact in each borough.
Over the past 6 years, Cycle Sisters has trained over 90 Ride leaders, empowering local women from Muslim communities to take on leadership roles.
Javaid has also ensured that Cycle Sisters plays a key role in addressing Muslim women’s underrepresentation in mainstream cycling.
The partnerships she has established with organisations such as TfL, Cycling UK, and British Cycling have helped raise the profile of Muslim women cyclists. More recently, she has worked closely with the London Marathon Foundation to ensure Cycle Sisters are present at key cycling events like Ride London.
Speaking to The Muslim News, Javaid said, “I am deeply honoured and humbled to be awarded an MBE by His Majesty the King for my work at Cycle Sisters. I am grateful for this opportunity to highlight the important work Cycle Sisters is doing to make cycling more inclusive and diverse, especially for Muslim women.
Cycle Sisters is a sisterhood of over 1,500 women across London. We are privileged to have been a part of their journeys, witnessing cycling’s transformative impact. Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our dedicated volunteers, without whom Cycle Sisters’ success would not have been possible.”
Rizwana Mahmood-Ahmed, MBE
One of 119 people recognised for education services is Rizwana Mahmood-Ahmed, the headmaster of Carlton Junior and Infants School. She has been honoured with an MBE for her contributions to education.
The 52-year-old has over 22 years of expertise in the field and joined the school as deputy head in 2008 before becoming head six years later. The 2015 Ofsted assessment lauded the school’s leadership as “exceptional and inspirational” and noted the rapid rise in standards, pupil attitudes, and parental participation.
Mahmood-Ahmed dedicated her award to her “parents, family, friends, and colleagues who have been an integral part of my journey and have both witnessed the challenges and achievements and have supported me in my continuous drive for better outcomes for all”.
Mohammed Younis OBE
Also recognised for his contribution to education is Mohammed Younis, founder of Star Day Nurseries, who is to be made an OBE for services to Early Years Education and the community in Peterborough. Younis founded Stars Day Nurseries in 2003 with his business partner Mohammed Ashraf, opening Little Stars Day Nursery, a 95-place setting caring for and educating children.
Younis was well-known in the community and listened to families in the area. He believed that there was a gap in the childcare sector in Peterborough. Little Stars was a resounding success, and the business has grown rapidly, with 12 settings in Peterborough, two in Lincolnshire, and a not-for-profit setting under his new venture, Stars and Sparkles Foundation.
Younis has become a driving force within the Early Years Sector in Peterborough. As the National Day Nurseries Association Chair in the city and working closely with local government, he understands the issues facing the Early Years Sector as well as the issues facing families in the city. The service offered by Stars Day Nurseries is tailored to family needs, and each setting is a hub within the local community, offering both flexibility and support as needed.
Younis told The Muslim News receiving an OBE for services to the Early Years Sector “is incredibly humbling. Stars Day Nurseries has been my life for 20 years, and everything the company has achieved has been in support of the children and families in Peterborough. I am proud to live and work in Peterborough and to have been able to contribute to a city that I love. I would just like to thank my wife, my children, my family, and my wonderful colleagues at Stars Day Nurseries for enabling me to achieve this incredible award.”
(R) Ehsan Shahid Choudhry, BEM
Ehsan Shahid Choudhry, co-founder of Muslim Hands Open Kitchen, is one of seven Muslims to receive BEM awards this year. The Hounslow-based Open Kitchen is open all year round, including bank holidays, serving free, fresh, hot meals to the needy. It has served approximately 500,000 meals since opening its doors. Choudhry’s networking abilities have enabled beneficiaries and funders to connect, resulting in homeless Open Kitchen service users being rehoused or returning to work.
Local police reports suggest that since the opening of the Kitchen, local petty crime such as theft has decreased as beneficiaries can get their necessities from the Open Kitchen instead.
“I am humbled to receive this. It is the culmination of the prayers and efforts of my community, the Muslim Hands team, and volunteers. I hope this work inspires others to do the same in their communities. No act of kindness is too small. I’d like to especially thank Chair of Muslim Hands Syed Lakhte Hassanain for providing the opportunity to serve the people of Hounslow,” Choudhry told The Muslim News.
Aftab Rahman, founding Director of Legacy West Midlands (LWM), is to receive an MBE for services to heritage and to the community in Birmingham. Rahman, who has worked in the community for three decades, has also worked as a senior civil servant, charity director, and entrepreneur. In 2010, Rahman established LWM as a heritage charity.
The first project was ‘Bangla Food Journeys’ followed by a walking heritage trail for Lozells and East Handsworth. He told The Muslim News, “For the first five years, it worked alone with the support of volunteers, friends, and family. We then broadened our aims to include well-being, the arts, and community cohesion.
This led to the employment of staff to lead projects. LWM has now become a leading organisation in the region and is credited with shaping the heritage sector and making it more relevant to the global community.”
Rahman said he was initially hesitant to accept the award as the “word ‘Empire’ has a legacy of bloodshed.” However, after deliberating with family and friends, Rahman concluded he should not “feel guilty about being recognised for my work.”
He explained, “The following day I called the lady [from the honours and appointment secretariat from the Cabinet Office] and told her that I would reluctantly accept the award but that I have issues with the word ‘Empire’. She asked me to put that in writing, so they have a record of my feelings.” Rahman has vowed to ask King Charles “to change the word ‘Empire’ to ‘Excellence’ to usher in a new era,” should he meet him.
