Mosques across London open doors to public in attempt to 'ease tensions'

 
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Alexandra Rucki2 February 2015

A number of mosques across the UK opened their doors today in a bid to make ties with local communities.

Six mosques in London took part in the Visit My Mosque campaign organised by The Muslim Council of Britain.

Visitors were invited to enjoy a cup of tea and cake during the event, organised to ease tensions following the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

A statement on the event’s website said: “Members of the community are there to get to know one another better and some may be on hand to answer questions about Muslims and Islam where this is possible.

“Local mosques will also be inviting inter-faith leaders as well, and all will be invited to come together to demonstrate unity and solidarity during what has been a tense time for faith communities.”

Finsbury Park mosque, in north London, where radical cleric Abu Hamza was an imam, participated in the open day.

The mosque has undergone a change of leadership and is focusing on inter-faith dialogue since he was jailed in New York last month for terrorism offences.

Balham Mosque, East London Mosque, Sri Lankan Muslim Cultural Centre and Tooting Islamic Centre also opened their doors to visitors.

Some of the mosques have received death threats and drawings of the Prophet Mohamed following the Paris attacks.

General Secretary Mohammed Kozar told Sky News: "Most of them are nasty drawings about our prophet and our books.

"Some of them make death threats against our community, so it's quite frightening for our community and our mosque."

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