Southampton Medina mosque opens its doors to community

The chairman of the Southampton Medina Mosque, Rashid Brora, 58, welcomed people of any or no faith at an open day on Sunday.

Mr Brora said: “We have been doing these open days for about seven years and the intention has always been a way to help people understand Muslims and the religion of Islam.

“Since 2001, the impression a lot of people get when you utter the words Islam and Muslim, the picture that pops up in people’s minds is that of a man carrying an AK47 running around with a turban on his head and that’s not Muslims are about.”

He spoke to visitors at the mosque and after prayers there was a short talk by Muhammad Ali Tanveer about the core beliefs of Islam.

Mr Brora spoke about the misconceptions that some might have against the Muslim community and about the importance of all religions co-existing.

Posters on different topics regarding the faith.

He said: “It’s all about human choice and people have the ability to make that choice. And it’s not for us to punish them, it’s God who will make that decision.

“In the early days of Islam, Christians, Jews and Muslims all lived equally in the Islamic countries and had no problems so it can still happen and does happen.”

He also spoke about the support the community has been offering to victims of the floods in Pakistan, having donated more than £1,100.

He said: “It has been a good response, many of the Muslims in this mosque are from Pakistan and from the Asian subcontinent area although we get people from the Middle East, Africa and so on.

“All have given and will give to try to help people, as some have family or relatives in Pakistan.”

Since 2013, the mosque has organised open days to welcome non-Muslims to find out more about the faith.

On one occasion in 2015, around 500 people attended the event.

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