PEACE CALL RINGS OUT AT MOSQUES
Gloucestershire Citizen, 4/1/04
The message of "peace and harmony" is already a regular aspect at mosques
in Gloucester, a spokesman has said.
And that message will be reinforced in the wake of a letter sent by the
Muslim Council of Great Britain to all mosques in the UK. It calls on
followers to report suspicious activity to authorities and reminds them
that "Islam categorically forbids violence and killing of innocents, let
alone indulging in violence which can cause death and mayhem".
Ahmed Bham is secretary of Gloucester's Masjid-E-Noor, in Ryecroft Street.
He said: "We send the same message to young people as anyone else, about
living in peace and harmony and being law-abiding citizens. That message
has been very clear to all our members right from the outset."
He had not yet seen the letter, but when it arrived the executive committee
would give it every attention.
"Of course, we will co-operate fully with the police in terms of ensuring
that every member of the Muslim community, and indeed the wider community,
remains vigilant," he said.
The Muslim Council revealed that the letter had been sent out to mosques in
an effort to bring to their attention concerns that have been expressed
about an immediate attack taking place in the UK, in the wake of the Madrid
bombings which claimed 191 lives...
The council's intervention follows fears that fringe elements are
misleading young people for political reasons.
Its hope is that the letter will be used to get across the message during
Friday prayers that terrorism has no place in Islam...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by shereen at April 1, 2004 06:45 PM