Shia Youth Dubai or SYD as more commonly known began a gradual formation In Ramadhan of the year 1424 (2003). Sheik Ammar Nakshwani had been on his very first visit to the Dubai Jamaat in that year, but almost immediately he saw something missing and after some enquiry, realized that there was no independent youth body in Dubai, after which he had imparted his experience of other communities; how they were making use of their youths in various activities and how they were bridging the youth gaps amongst various ages, Ali Reza Kassam and Aziz Dhala. Hence, the creation of a self-supporting youth group became their agenda.

Prior to this development, Ali Reza Kassam and Aziz Dhala had been discussing the future direction of the youths in our community – seeing the progress in other Khoja communities around the world; they understood that there was an urgent need to form a youth body.

Furthermore in the same month (Ramadhan), a Q/A session was held with the Sheik and there was a point during this session where a discussion from the youths began to head toward the fact that they had no platform to discuss their own issues and no body that ran for their own interest. It was then SYD was proposed. Present there were Masoom Somji and Sadiq Dhirani who not only agreed to it but assured their full support in this beginning phase.
 

Such enthusiasm from the youths motivated Ali and Aziz and gave their plans the green-light, for which they had been working and waiting on for a long time. It was high time the words were put into action!

The actual implementation of this youth body ignited a stage for discussion amongst Ali, Aziz and the other youths. Topics ranged from assessing the benefits to how to form it, who would lead it, what the structure would be like and how it would function. Dialogue was not limited to a certain place and the youths met up at venues such as Karachi Darbar, Sheesha shops, Ali’s office and so on.

After (a lot of) discussions and meetings a final proposal had been sent to Mahmood Rattansi, Qassim Hemraj, Anis Somji and Mohammed Ramzan. They in turn fully embraced the initiative and were very pleased to give it their full co-operation in every feasible manner.

Once the proposal of the youth group had been accepted, it was time to decide what name would represent it. Different names were brought up; however an unofficial youth group consisting of around 8-10 youths had already existed under the banner of SYD, or Shia Youth Dubai.

The founders proposed using this existing name instead of changing the name of the small group and/or giving a ‘new’ group a separate name.

SYD - now officially recognized in the Jamaat - and the same old group expanded on a bigger platform with official benefits like memberships

In September/October ’03 SYD was inaugurated to the public with a website (www.syd.dubaijamaat.com)to compliment, which had received around 500-600 hits on an everyday average at that time.

This website was not only for religious purpose but also for social entertainment for the youths; serving the core purpose of SYD at large, which was to keep every one together on a single platform.
 

After SYD’s officially launch, it was time to organize various activities and cater to requests and suggestions such as night outs, paintball games etc, and in a nutshell SYD’s aim of uniting enthusiastic youths between the ages of 14-29 had been successful.

The initial management had planned to stay in office for 6 months, however due to many visions and missions in mind it continued for a bit longer and lasted for 8-9 months, after which the 1st SYD election had taken place.

Within a span of 2 years SYD had a thriving record of outings and events, an example being the Masai Maraa day out during the Nairobi festival, in collaboration with other Jamaats present at that time.

To this day the spirit of SYD lives on. One of the activities which is still carried out enthusiastically is the blood donation drive on every Ashura day, which was an idea of SYD.

Truly SYD had accomplished its mission in their office term which was

‘To get all the youths with in the age group to be one big team’

Members of the 1st committee:

• Br. Ali Kassam (Chairman)
• Br. Abbas Fazal
• Br. Aziz Dhalla
• Br. Zeeshan Somji
• Br. Ali Kassam (Mombassa)
• Br. Maisam Asghar
• Br. Ali Hemraj
• Br. Faheem Rashid
• Br. Javed Moloo
• Br. Mohd Redha Hemraj
• Br. Azhar Karim
• Br. Mohd Ali Somji
• Br. Jawad Asghar
• Br. Imran Dhala
• Br. Shaneabbas Merali

The following committee then followed:

From June 2004 – June 2006: Br. Mohammed Abdul Aziz
From June 2006 – June 2007: Br. Ali Jawad Bhimani
From June 2007 – April 2008: Br. Mahmood Rattansi
From April 2008 – December 2008: Br. Abbas Fazal
From January 2009 – April 2010 : Br. Qassim Hemraj
From April 2010 : Br. Muzzammil known as Shia Youth Dubai, the group was re-branded as Dubai Jamaat Youth Association in early 2008 to better reflect the association with the parent body, Dubai Jamaat.

The DJYA is the official forum for young members of our Community, comprising of students at colleges and universities as well as post-graduates and professionals around the UAE.

Currently the DJYA is headed by Br. Muzzammil Mawji along with 8 subcommittee members and our aims and objectives centre on the facilitation of Islam through the Holy Quran and Holy Ahlul-Bayt (as) as well as social enjoyment under the auspices of Islam.

The mission statement is "Social Progress through Religious Integration."We believe that Islam is a comprehensive way of life and that it is necessary for everyone to acquire knowledge of Islam in all its forms and sciences and
implement this in our daily lives.

The activities and services of DJYA are an ideal opportunity for the Youths to fulfill this obligation and responsibility.MawjiFormerly