A Croydon comedian has been crowned joint winner of a competition to find the funniest joke about religion.

Nabil Abdul-Rashid won after members of the public voted for their favourite joke, and panel of judges, including comics David Baddiel and Omid Djalili selected the overall winners.

Nigerian born Mr Abdul-Rashid, 24, also broke the record for the youngest black comedian in the country to perform a stand-up routine at the Hammersmith Apollo.

The competition was held by the makers of the new film The Infidel.

Mr Abdul-Rashid said: “I accidentally stumbled on the Facebook page for the competition, and when I tried to submit my video, I thought the link had failed and never went through.

“I just assumed I wouldn't win, but when I realised I was getting votes, I got my friends to vote too, as I was sure that if Omid or David saw my video they would see the passion I put into my work and recognise it.

“And in the end I guess I was right.”

The special prize was the opportunity to perform live at the world premiere of The Infidel to a crowd of 3,500 people, including comedians, celebrities, comedy agents, actors and film-makers.

Mr Abdul-Rashid has been an aspiring stand-up comic for the past 18 months and is currently in the semi-finals of the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2010 competition.

He is also working on a religious comedy tour as well as a comedy workshop project for inner-city children and young adults with behavioural problems.

David Baddiel, writer of The Infidel, said: “Nabil stood out for me because of his energy and his likeability and because he had a clutch of stonker gags I knew would go down a storm at our premiere.

“A deserving winner.”

Mr Abdul-Rashid’s winning entry can be seen at the website whichreligionisfunniest.com