London: British Muslims enjoyed a ‘breath of fresh air’ as they sought to portray the positive role they play in British society when mosques throughout the UK opened their doors to the public at the weekend.
More than 80 mosques from London to Aberdeen and Belfast welcomed thousands of curious guests at the Muslim Council of Britain’s (MCB) second annual Visit My Mosque day on Sunday.
Organisers were delighted to see all kinds of people of all religions take up the chance to visit their local mosque, ask questions and learn more about Islam, which has attracted little but negative headlines in the wake of the European refugee crisis and terrorist attacks by extremists.
More than 500 visited Finsbury Park Mosque in London alone, while those in Woking and Lincoln also proved popular. Britain’s oldest mosque — Abdullah Quilliam in Liverpool, which was originally founded in 1889 — was also open to the public despite ongoing restoration work.
“We think days like these are really important,” an MCB spokesman told Gulf News. “Muslims in the UK are really contributing a lot to British society and often it seems like we are not being spoken about because of forces beyond our control — things like what is happening in the Middle East and in Asia.
“So Muslims generally in the UK have received this event with what I would call a breath of fresh air. For once we are putting our own story out there and are redefining ourselves and our community to the wider British public.”
And the MCB, which represents the interests of the approximate 3 million British Muslims, hopes the Visit My Mosque event will raise awareness of the accessibility of mosques to the general public throughout the year.
“It was a fantastic day. A full variety of people came, from full families to local residents who were curious — people who have lived near a mosque for many years but had never been inside,” the spokesman added.
“I think one thing we would like to emphasise is that, even though we held an open day on Sunday, most mosques are actually open every day and there should be nothing stopping any members of the public who want to find out more, who are curious or who just want to meet and greet, they should just walk in and ask to speak to somebody.
“This has helped mosques around the country attract more people and raise awareness. Mosques across the UK have been doing open days for years if not decades — it’s a regular part of their business as usual activities. But Sunday was different because we asked mosques across the country to coordinate their open days on a single day for the purposes of amplifying and concerting our efforts on a national level, while also amplifying the good work that they already do.”
- The writer is a freelance journalist based in the UK
