The Muslim News Awards ceremony, held in London on 4 April 2007, was an occasion to recognize and appreciate excellence achieved by Muslims and Muslim Organisations in the United Kingdom.
One of the best ranking awards was the ‘Sankore University Award for Excellence in Education’. This was presented by the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn to the Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme (ZCSS) of the World Federation.
The achievement marks a milestone in the history of the ZCSS, now in its 25th year. The scheme supports deserving and under privileged children throughout the world, by taking care of their educational needs with a view to economically uplifting them and their families.
On winning the award, the Head of ZCSS, Sajjad Tejani had this to say; "this award is dedicated to Syeda Zainab (A.S) as she was the inspiration to the program. It is through her blessings that ZCSS has achieved success and reached its current height. I echo the sentiments of the community by recognizing the vision of the past President of the World Federation, Marhum Mulla Asgherali M. M. Jaffer under whose leadership ZCSS was set up. I would also like to recognize and place on record my sincere appreciation to the past Chairmen of ZCSS namely Muhsin Dharamsi, Mohamed Visram, Murtaza Datoo and Mohamed Alibhai for their dedication to ZCSS. The award will also further motivate the current ZCSS team in achieving an even higher level of EXCELLENCE.”
The award is in memory of Sankore University which during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries was a celebrated seat for studying Islam. Situated in Timbuktu, Mali, it attracted some of the top students from around the world, and those who graduated with the highest distinctions found posts in some of the highest ranking positions in al-Azhar and Fez. From 1591, Moroccan forces successively raided the academia of Sankore, its scholars deported and it never managed to re-establish itself to its past glory. Despite the scholastic drain, the memories of Sankore University have remained, and it is a sense of great pride for the ZCSS to have achieved this award in its quest to eradicate poverty through education.