TEA, BISCUITS WELCOME UK MOSQUES VISITORS

London, 13 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/3 February 2015 (MINA) – Inviting neighbors to share biscuits and tea, British Muslims opened the doors of their mosques on Sunday, February 1, presenting a part of Muslims that is rarely shown in media.

“I was curious, I wondered if Muslims had different values or an alien culture. But, I didn’t want to just walk in to a mosque,” Horatio Waller, 23, a barrister from central London, told The Independent, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

For Tricia Montague, 56, from north London, she wanted to “stop a scary part of myself believing the propaganda. “I work in the NHS and I’ve worked with Muslim colleagues for years. I’ve never had any doubts. But after France I could feel these niggling doubts rising,” she said.

“I shocked myself because that’s not me. I was being drawn in, and I’ve come to remind myself of the reality.”

They were speaking as they visited the mosque in Whitechapel, east London, one of 20 across the UK opening its doors to the public as part of “Visit My Mosque Day”.

The open mosque day was organized by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) to promote better understanding of Islam following the recent attacks in Paris. The event was attended by various religious leaders to show solidarity and unity amid rising anti-Muslim sentiment across Europe.

Arriving at the mosque, visitors were asked to take off their shoes to take a tour in the mosque starting with men’s prayer space and women prayer space.

Later on, they visited the women’s center, and the visitor’s center, with a brief history of the mosque opening in 1986. The mosque has been targeted in the past by far-right groups.

“Muslims were scared to come to the mosque at one point, because of the attacks,” said Mohammed Uddin-Anwar, a regular member of the congregation.

“Last month was difficult, but we know how to handle it better now. We started open days a few years ago, and I would overhear comments like ‘It looks normal.’ That’s because it is normal in here. The minds of crazy terrorists in Paris are what isn’t normal.”

We have no Bombs

Visitors included people from different faiths and background. Finsbury Park mosque, which has long sought to shake off a reputation as a center of extremism, is among those mosques that opened doors to media and public

“You can check every place,” he told the 20 or so visitors in the men’s prayer room of Finsbury Park mosque, north London, during an inaugural national open day for Islamic places of worship, The Guardian reported.

“We haven’t got any bombs. Yes, there is a bad history here, but we have changed that. Those people were not representative of Islam,” he added, referring to radical imam Abu Hamza and his supporters.

The mosque, which has become a focal point in the community for interfaith and peaceful worship over the past 10 years, was often overshadowed by its old links with extremist preacher Abu Hamza, who was sentenced to life in US prison.

The mosque is now the only one in the country to have received the charity commission-endorsed Visible Quality Award for its work in the community.

Yet, the mosque has been the target of hate mails, death threats and offensive cartoons that found their way to its mail box since Paris attack last January 7.

“One of the reasons we are taking part is the increase in Islamophobic attacks against Muslims,” Khalid Oumar, a trustee of Finsbury Park mosque, which attracts 2,000 people to Friday prayers, said.

“Also, specifically, this mosque has a history. We drew a line under that 10 years ago, and there’s a new history of stability and community cohesion.”

Jo Hill, 58, a Roman Catholic, said she had heard about the event on the radio and had come to show solidarity with fellow people of faith who were being stigmatized. “I do feel very, very sad. When you see these tragedies happening, it’s not the Muslims. It’s fanatics,” she said.

In her first visit to a mosque, she thinks similar events would help in increasing people’s awareness about Islam. “I don’t think people have any imagination of what the faith is like. I couldn’t even recognize this as a mosque – I went to the building across the road,” she said.

Tony Pickles, 66, also a Catholic, shared a similar opinion. “It’s terrifically important,” he said.

“There should be more of this so we can break down barriers and blind prejudice. Some people are ignorant and make judgments and that’s wrong.” (T/P011/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)