London’s 'Young Imam' Is Changing How People See Islam — One Video at a Time

“I’d never done social media before,” Sabah Ahmedi told me as he carefully balanced his phone between a napkin dispenser and sugar shaker at a chai shop in South London’s Tooting district. “Never done TikTok, Instagram, Facebook,” he said.  

“Whatever was out there, I’d never done it.” 

These days, you would never guess it. With tens of thousands of followers and multiple viral videos to his credit, Ahmedi — known as “The Young Imam”  — is a social media sensation.  

And, perhaps more importantly, his is a voice for peacebuilding and bridging divides in a time when xenophobia, antisemitism, and anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence are gripping the United Kingdom.

His journey started in 2020 when, fresh out of the Ahmadiyya seminary in Surrey, he was assigned to the press office at Baitul Futuh in Morden, one of Europe’s largest mosques. Feeling called to be a faith leader out of a sense of justice, he said he was blessed to be in the role.   

But he wasn’t very good at it, he says. “I couldn’t write a presser [press release] to save my life,” he said. His boss told him to figure things out, or he might have to find a new position. So, sitting with a friend at the same chai shop, he decided to start a social media account. The plan was to share the daily life of a faith leader in the UK.  

“Here we are now, five years later,” he said as the camera on his phone captured us splitting a slice of banana bread and chatting about his adventures online. “The account has grown into so many things — a book deal, TV appearances, entertainment contracts.”  

More than being Instagram famous, the account has also fostered opportunities for inter-religious understanding in a time of increasing polarization in British society. With a rise in anti-religious rhetoric and hate directed at Muslims like him, Ahmedi knows it’s essential to show a different side to the Sacred — and to do it in a way that is accessible and digestible for as many people as possible. Through 15-second clips and day-in-the-life reels, Ahmedi creates a vibe that is honest and compassionate, inviting viewers in a spiritually fragmented and relationally polarized society to adopt postures of love, openness, and curiosity. 

An Axiom of Participation: The Role of Religion in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention

When it comes to conflict, religion holds a paradoxical place in the public imagination.

Religious actors acknowledge that they and their religious communities often fall short and that their faiths have been twisted to fuel hate and violence.

At the same time, representatives from across the religious and political spectrum believe that “when it comes to today’s crises, religion isn’t just part of the problem—it’s part of the solution.”

The G20 Interfaith Forum, scheduled to be streamed from Saudi Arabia from 13-17 October, highlights how interreligious cooperation can help solve global challenges, bringing together religious thought leaders and political representatives to seek solutions to some of the world’s most intractable problems.

According to conveners, the goal is to ensure “that the rich, countless ideas and actions of the worlds’ religious communities about global agendas are heard and understood.”

One of the prime emphases of this year’s forum will be on the role of religion in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Representatives from various regions will wrestle with how faith communities can inform, and help enact, policy related to countering hate speech, protecting sacred sites, addressing violent extremism, promoting inclusive citizenship, and preventing human trafficking and modern slavery.