The Scottish-Islamic Foundation will be led by second and third generation Scottish Muslims and will focus on teaching Muslims that their faith demands they be good citizens.

The launch of the foundation will take place in Edinburgh and will feature an address from First Minister Alex Salmond. The date of the launch has been consciously chosen to coincide with the first anniversary of the Glasgow airport terrorist attack.

Key figures from the foundation have already been running residential retreats for young people aimed at building community cohesion and reducing the possibility of radicalisation.

Chief Executive of the foundation Osama Saeed said:

“Research has shown Scottish Muslims are very comfortable with their identity, and this is an example our country can take to the rest of Europe. We don’t need to have the same debate about integration we see elsewhere, and it means we can talk about how Muslims can now further deepen their contribution to the country.

“In that respect, our five aims are firmly rooted within the Islamic tradition but may surprise some – freedom, respect, education, families and justice.

“We’re looking to have a strong Muslim voice on areas we’ve been a bit quiet on, like climate change and poverty. We also think that it’s important to voice protest at human rights abuses in Muslim countries and call for basic liberties there – and that this is part of Islam.”

But Saeed has warned that efforts to continue Scotland’s success in building community cohesion face funding issues. Comparing the funding situation north of the border to that in England, he says:

“There is hundreds of millions of pounds sloshing around in England for this sort of stuff but in Scotland, we are largely relying on volunteers. This is something that needs to be looked at.”