The East London Mosque once again welcomed hundreds of visitors, as part of the annual Visit My Mosque, organised nationally by the Muslim Council of Britain. It's a wonderful opportunity for people to meet Muslims in their community, find out what it's really like in a Mosque, and dispel myths perpetuated by the far right and some sections of the media.

Amongst those enjoying the open day were: Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs; local MP, Rushanara Ali; London Mayoral Candidate for the Lib Dems, Siobhan Benita; and Founder of Citizens UK, Neil Jameson.

Visitors were offered a tour inside one of Britain's busiest mosques, and could observe the live prayers at midday. In addition to the usual exhibition about Islam, this year's theme was the environment; the unusually mild weather meant the Mosque's honeybees were active, as visitors watched from our observation area.

There were also live recitations of the Qur'an, a children's activity corner, henna hand painting, and tea and homemade cakes!

Sufia Alam, Maryam Centre Manager at the Mosque, was delighted at the day's success: "It's heartening that so many people choose to visit the Mosque, to find out for themselves what it's really like and to talk to their Muslim neighbours. This is an important way to bring people together and to challenge anti-Muslim bigotry."

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Notes to editors:

• Over 250 mosques took part in this year's 'Visit My Mosque', inviting people of all faiths and none to step inside Muslim places worship throughout the country. Further information about the Muslim Council of Britain’s Visit My Mosque Day can be found here: visitmymosque.org

• The East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre receive visitors almost every day, in addition to the regular users that make it one of the busiest mosques in the country, with an annual footfall of over 1.7m. There are regular Open Weekends 3-4 times a year, and many projects and services offered to the communities of London.

• Media contact: [email protected]