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Record Number Visits UK Mosques Open Day

Muslim News Staff
06 February, 2017

LONDON – Over 150 mosques across Britain opened their doors on Sunday, February 5, to mark the third annual Visit My Mosque Day, welcoming hundreds of visitors in one of the largest attended open mosque days in the world.

“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,” Muslim Council of Britain Secretary General Harun Khan said at the national launch event in Khizra Mosque, Manchester, a statement shared by OIC read.

“We were also moved by the record numbers who came in solidarity to Muslims and the hostile atmosphere they find themselves in.

“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.”

#VisitMyMosque day, facilitated by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), provides a platform for Muslims to reach out to fellow Britons and explain their faith and community beyond the headlines.

As more than 150 mosques across the UK opened their doors, the successful event was attended by many renowned figures, including the Bishop of Liverpool and of Salford.

More MPs than ever before attended a mosque open days in their local constituencies, including 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.

“Drinking tea together is far more effective than pouring concrete to build walls,” Jeremy Corbyn said at the launch event at Finsbury Park Mosque, in a particular note to Donald Trump.

The Muslim Council of Britain is the UK’s largest Muslim umbrella body with over 500 affiliated national, regional and local organizations, mosques, charities and schools.