Okay, so today I am going to share my experience about a wonderful volunteering opportunity that I found by chance, and this chance was a wonderful coincidence that happened to me. One day, I was simply browsing online when I encountered a wonderful volunteering opportunity through a community-driven initiative - Seerat club for Kids. I got excited upon seeing the opportunity in STEM, but little did I know the true essence of this volunteering experience. Later, after talking with the core team, I realized that it was an opportunity at Masjid-e-Shafqat, where commnunity members strive to sow the seeds of love for science and religion in the hearts of children by fostering their connection with their community masjid, Shafqat Masjid. 

In this community-driven initiative, various activities were carefully planned for the children. As I reached Masjid-e-Shafqat, I felt a sense of calm and fell deeply in love with the simple yet beautiful architecture of Shafqat Masjid. There was a desk with a depiction of a big elephant on it, with "The Year of the Elephant" clearly written. I thought maybe it was just a name and had nothing to do with the event itself. Then, a few minutes later, right after Namaz-e-Asr, I saw a group of cute children gathering near that reception desk with the depiction of an elephant and The Year of the Elephant written on it. Their ages varied—there were children from ages 4 to 13, according to my observation. Everyone was gathered in Shafqat Masjid for one purpose: something fun and useful is going to happen. I was assigned to Team Yellow along with Abdullah, another volunteer. We had already been guided about the activities we needed to do with the children assigned to us. Now, we started gathering our Team Yellow members from the masjid and brought them together near a projector screen. This was the moment when the session was about to begin. I was still curious about the phrase The Year of the Elephant. Every child was waiting eagerly after getting their journals from previous sessions checked and receiving appreciation.

The session kicked off with an engaging brief up by Maulana Owais about the details leading to the events in the year Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born. Later, I observed something that I had never seen in any masjid before. On that large screen, they started playing an animation explaining Surah Al-Fil. They used animation, which might fascinate children, to explain a chapter of the Quran—something that, as a kid, I could only imagine. Now, I realized what The Year of the Elephant really meant. It was written on their website and on the reception desk—the year when the event of the elephants took place, which Allah mentions in the Quran! But this wasn’t the end. 

This initiative didn’t stop there—there was even more to see! They now showed a verse from the Quran: "And among His signs are the ships in the sea, like mountains." (42:32) After showing this verse, he started explaining the concept of buoyancy to the children using practical examples—making a piece of wood float while a piece of heavy metal sank. At this point, I started realizing that I had truly met like-minded people. As I observed, this masjid was operating in the same way masjids did during the Islamic Golden Age of science. I had found someone working in the same domain that I have dreamed of working in myself—since I, too, want to establish a Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) model in the modern age.

Later, the kids themselves built boats to observe Archimedes' Principle firsthand. The children watched and experienced this principle while having fun. This is how the entire activity ended after Namaz-e-Isha.

My experience at Shafqat Masjid was not only a volunteering opportunity, but it was also a vision that I have always dreamed of and an opportunity to get connected with people having the same mindset and spending time with kids that are dreaming of being the best Muslim leaders of the future.Seeing a masjid functioning as a center for both religious and scientific learning reminded me of the Islamic Golden Age, where knowledge flourished in places like Bayt al-Hikma. This initiative is proof that faith and science are not separate but complementary to one another, which inspires young minds to explore both their spiritual and intellectual potential. I left with a renewed sense of purpose, grateful to have been part of something so meaningful. If more communities embraced this approach, we could reshape the way future generations connect with both knowledge and faith.

Thank you for reading.