Across the country thousands of Britons visited over 150 mosques participating in the third annual ‘Visit My Mosque’ Day on 5 February 2017.
Mosques across the UK provided refreshments, alongside an insight into the day-to-day goings on of a busy Muslim centre of worship.
Visit My Mosque Day aims to provide a platform for the Muslims community to reach out to fellow Britons and explain their faith and community.
This year’s Visit My Mosque Day showcased how mosques across the country are not only a spiritual focal point, but also serve their localities and help people of all faiths and none by running food banks, feed-the-homeless projects, neighbourhood street cleans, local fundraising and much more.
Cllr Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth Labour Leader, took his family along to his local place of worship, Central Mosque on Somers Road North in Fratton.
The Central Mosque, in Charles Dickens ward, sees over 200 worshippers from across the city attending for prayer on a Friday.
Cllr Morgan said:
“I welcome efforts by the local Muslim community to bring the whole community together and to renew bonds of friendship in our city.
I was really pleased to have the opportunity to come with my family to the Central Mosque in the heart of our city today.
It was great to see people from all walks of life at the open day and hear from the Imam about the faith and the work the mosque does to support charitable initiatives.
It reminded us all that we have far more in common than which divides us”.
A mosque is a place of worship for those practicing the Islamic faith, where five daily congregational prayers are held, led by an Imam (prayer leader) and serve as community hubs offering a range of activities and facilities. One of the oldest mosques in Britain was established in 1887.
