VISIT My Mosque Day event has been held for the third time annually, the event which was held in Manchester at the Khizra Mosque saw over 150 mosques open it’s doors on 5 February.
Right across Britain the mosques reported that dozens maybe even hundreds of people attended each mosque. It is predicted as being of the largest ever attended open mosque days in the world.
There were also three mosques which are generally visited by Turkish Worshipers from the North London Area, these included the Mevlana Rumi Mosque in Edmonton and the Finsbury Park Mosque.
The day #VisitMyMosque which is organised by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is a platform which gives Muslims the chance to connect with fellow Britons to explain their faith and community without the influence of the media or news.
Over 150 mosques took part in the event which is almost double the amount that participated last year, there were also several faith, civil and political leaders who also took part.
Speaking at the national launch event in Khizra Mosque, Manchester, Muslim Council of Britain Secretary General Harun Khan, said, “We hope that Visit My Mosque Day will become a great British institution. So many British Muslims opened the doors to their mosques and their hearts to thousands of fellow Britons keen to reach out to local Muslims and find out about their faith. We were also moved by the record numbers who came in solidarity to Muslims and the hostile atmosphere they find themselves in.”
The Bishop of Liverpool and of Salford were also among the main faith leaders who attended. More MPs than ever before took part in the mosque open days in their local constituencies. They include minister Ben Gummer, leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry and numerous other MPs including David Lammy, Gareth Thomas, Patrick Grady, Kirsty Blackman, Mike Gapes, Chi Onuwarah, Neil Coyle, Maggie Throup, Wes Streeting, Ian Lucas, Kelvin Hopkins, Stephen Timms, Jeff Smith and Stephen McPartland.
He continued by saying: “Now more than ever, we need initiatives like #VisitMyMosque as antidotes to the poisonous atmosphere of fear and distrust rippling through society in the wake of recent events.”
