Scottish Muslims are planning a radical campaign to play a greater role in the country's civic life, to change the perceptions of their religion and to promote Scotland as an ideal country for Muslims to live and invest in.

Members of the newly formed Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF) are planning to launch the campaign, which will engage with issues such as the removal of nuclear weapons from Faslane and the environment.

Women will also be given a voice within mosques and will be encouraged to form committees to decide policies specific to them.

Traditional practices will be adapted to respond to Scottish society, with the intention of demonstrating the contribution Islam can make to the country, and a new mosque, currently being planned by a group of men and women that are mostly under 35, is expected to be built in East Renfrewshire, embodying the current thinking.

Hamza Yousaf, director of public affairs at the SIF, said: "We believe that the very nature of Islam adapts across the centuries, but what we are doing is trying to modernise ourselves and remind ourselves of what Islam actually says, reach out to the people of Scotland."

This winter, a tradition called Qurbani, an event that takes place in Ramadan, during which meat is donated and then distributed among the poor, will be reconfigured to benefit Scotland's most vulnerable groups.

In past years, meat has been sent back to Pakistan, the country of origin for the majority of Muslim Scots, but this year the meat will be collected and given to vulnerable people in Scotland, including asylum seekers and the homeless.

Representatives of the SIF will also sit on the SNP's working group on Trident; mosques are being urged to refer to the Global Day of Action on Poverty during Friday sermons and it is hoped the Islamic voice wil be heard in civil society, as Muslims join in the "big" debates.

Yousaf added: "Most of the time Muslims are talking about foreign affairs but what we're trying to say is that there are challenges here that we can tackle as Muslims and need to have an Islamic viewpoint on.

"Our aim is to get people to change the way they are thinking and remind ourselves of the duty we have in this country. The mosque should be the hub of that and the madrasas Islamic teaching seminaries are key."

As well as an ideological contribution, there are plans to contribute to Scotland's economy. Recently, the SIF met with the head of Al-Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar, after he spoke at the Edinburgh Television Festival, to discuss how Scotland can be promoted across the Islamic world.

They spoke about an Islamic financial expo, due to take part in Scotland early next year, which will be a showcase for opportunities to invest in Scotland.

Osama Saeed, chief executive of the SIF, said: "We showed arguably the most influential Arab around the hills and the lochs and he was really impressed. We also met with the deputy first minister and talked about how Scotland could promote itself and how little the Muslim world knows about Scotland."

Khanfar said he would consider making documentaries about Scotland and even mooted the opening of a Scottish bureau.

The SIF also raised the possibility that the links made with the Islamic world could enable Scotland to act as an international peace broker, in a similar way to Norway. Saeed added: "This may even be a good opportunity to ease global tensions and we feel a responsibility to help if we can. "

The SIF claim to have the backing of Scottish Muslims. One supporter, Imam Mustaqeem who leads the Masjid al-Ferqan mosque in Glasgow and sits on the Scottish Interfaith Council, said: "I strongly support these Islamic ideas and proposals.

"It's great to see efforts to bring the youth to Islam and I cannot see anything wrong, from the perspective of the Islamic scholars, with bringing something new to the fold."

The Scottish government is so firmly behind the SIF's work, particularly the expo idea, that it has donated £200,000 towards it.

A spokeswoman said: "We believe that it is right to celebrate the diversity that exists in Scotland through events like this. In supporting it we will also be able to build links between communities and dispel the myths which undermine community cohesion."

By Jasper Hamill (Sunday Herald)