Mentor Profile - Shuayb Ismail

It was 19 years ago on the 16th of February, before the break of dawn, that Shuayb entered this world. A small baby boy, the third child of Abbas and Shamim Ismail, Shuayb came into this life with silence and did not start to speak until the age of 3, much to the worry of his parents. Claiming his heritage from 2 continents and 3 countries (India, Iran and Tanzania), Shuayb was blessed from a young age to visit far off places. It was through this travel that Shuayb developed his experiences of the world around him and his perceptions and ideas of the way we interact.

One of the biggest experiences that challenged Shuayb’s life was at the Macro Centre, a local hyper market. Always a curious explorer, it was here in the shoe department, past the escalators and children’s wear, that Shuayb wandered away from the security of his father to find himself lost. His heart racing and with dread on his brow Shuayb began to panic at the loss of his parents. He quickly went from aisle to aisle looking for them, but for all his courage and determination, his luck led him to no avail. Just as all hope was lost however he toddled out onto the central reservation to find his father and mother and quickly ran to them. They gave him a lolly for his courage.

Graduating from Little Redding’s Primary School at the age of 11, Shuayb was ready for the world of ‘big school’ and progressed to continue his education at Bushey Meads Secondary School. Engaging in his studies, Shuayb also began to develop his interest as well through extra-curricular activities. He took an active role in the student body: for example leading school teams in business and political competitions; being elected for student council; auditioning for school plays and musicals; and part-taking in school sporting competitions. An avid environmentalist from a young age, one of his greatest achievements at the school was the creation of a school recycling system. However of all the ins and outs of high school education, Shuayb soon found that he was at the end of his Bushey Meads life. Leaving with 11 GCSEs and more importantly a host of memories, Shuayb went on to continue his academic career at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Buckinghamshire.

At the outset Dr Challoner’s presented a great test for Shuayb, for you see it was much further away than Bushey Meads. This presented a daunting challenge for him, to take the train on his own and brave the loneliness and solitude that was the metropolitan line. However never one to turn away at the face of danger Shuayb woke up early that first September day, ready for school, and took the train towards Amersham. As he took that first anxious step on to the platform, heeding the train drivers’ advice regarding the distance between the train and the platform, Shuayb landed well and took this as a good omen for his first day. In an unknown land with no knowledge of the local life, language or culture, Shuayb hoped that his upbringing in foreign destinations had trained him well enough for what was to come. Armed with only an Oyster Card, pad book and pencil case he set off through the barriers out of the station and into the new world.

It was at Dr Challoner’s that Shuayb truly developed. Studying Mathematics, Physics, Politics, Religious Studies and Spanish, Shuayb truly enjoyed his subjects developing his interest through much private study. Further than this he also took an active role in school life: being elected school Prefect, part-taking in political discourses and the debating society, and establishing a school Islamic Society. On leaving Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Shuayb decided to undertake a gap year to develop his interests and private study further before entering university. He now hopes to study International Relations next year.

Outside of the academic sphere, Shuayb plays an active role in the small country that is Hujjat Stanmore Jamaat. For example, having taught debating, drama, public-speaking and current affairs – as well as Fiqh, Tareeqh and Akhlaq – at the Saturday Workshop and Madressa, Shuayb also plays a role as the Literary Committee Chair of Stanmore Jaffery’s and until recently was also the CoEJ Relief Representative for Hujjat Stanmore.

Over the past 19 years Shuayb has hopefully developed himself through interests in community work, charity, environment, public speaking, debating, politics, language, philosophy and travel. Having visited Sweden in 2004 as a camper and acting as a mentor at last year’s camp, Shuayb hopes to utilise his skills, interests, experiences  and that which he has been blessed with to help benefit and develop the youth of this year’s camp.

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