Hawzah News Agency (London, UK) - Charing Cross, one of Central London's homeless hotspots was rife with rough sleepers over the weekend where volunteers were busy distributing food and supplies including water, gloves and winter hats.
Sabah Ahmedi, who at 25 is one of Britain's youngest Imams, said its principle goals are to follow Islamic teachings by providing help to people who need it and to counter radicalisation amongst youth by engaging them in positive action for social change.
He said teaching young people to give back to the community means "there is no room for extremism or radicalisation."
As well as delivering food, Mr Ahmedi said the organisation's volunteers will be cleaning up the mess left behind by revellers on New Year's Day. He added: "We feel that it is part of our responsibility to do this in the country in which we live."
One of those volunteers, Qamar Ahmed, said: "Even though we don't celebrate Christmas, it doesn't stop us from reaching out and helping others who do, especially at this time of year when they are lonely and on the streets."
As well as delivering food to rough sleepers, he said the charity inspires young volunteers to reach out to people experiencing mental health problems and loneliness in care homes and orphanages.
Mr Ahmed added such actions represent a positive response to Islamophobic attitudes that stereotype an entire belief system, while establishing strong relations between different communities.
Recent analysis from homeless charity Shelter suggested there are 320,000 homeless people on record in the UK, a figure which increased by 13,000 over the last year. This means one in every 200 people in Britain are either homeless or living in temporary accommodation.
With almost 170,000 people living on its streets, London has the highest levels of homelessness, equating to one in every 52 people, the charity said, adding that Brighton, Birmingham and Manchester are suffering from housing crisis. It estimated 131,000 homeless children in Britain today.
The Office of National Statistics recently revealed there were an estimated 597 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2017 - a figure which the study claims has increased over the last five years.
Nadia, an elderly woman who lives on the streets was one of 150 people or so to receive a meal from volunteers in Charing Cross. She said: "We want change. The system is wrong and it's putting people on the street. We want nobody to be on the streets anymore. We want everybody to have a self-contained flat."
She added: "The system is about divide and rule. The rich become richer, the poor more poor. We live in the 21st century and everybody should be living properly – not be forced into accepting handouts. I am on the streets because the system is wrong. We should change the corrupt, rotten system."