OLDHAM, Greater Manchester – A video showing two laughing women laying bacon on a mosque’s door in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is being investigated by police after being widely shared on social media.
“It’s shocking, absolutely shocking. We need to respect the places of worship. It’s not what you expect. The (video footage) came to light yesterday,” Dara Miah, general secretary of Madina Mosque in Oldham, told Metro.
“We have reported the incident to police. The police have been very cooperative. We have advised the local community to not take any action in their hands. We have had the whole perimeter of the mosque fenced off.
“We have got CCTV already installed. Worshippers who come to the mosque were angry. It’s very important to raise awareness, not just for our mosque but for other places of worship.”
The disturbing footage, shot in September but went online only this week, shows two young women laughing as they put bacon on a mosque’s back door.
One of the women says “you get arrested if you put bacon on the door” as they approach Madina Mosque in Oldham during prayers. The other offender then jokes “we are going to get f*** arrested”.
The pair are confronted by a worshipper outside and one of the women apologizes before they run round to the other side, where they put bacon at the back door.
Greater Manchester Police said they are investigating the incident.
A spokeswoman for the force said the attack was ‘dealt with at the time’, but officers are aware that new video footage emerged of the incident on Monday.
The concept of halal — meaning permissible in Arabic — has traditionally been applied to food.
Muslims do not eat pork and consider pigs and their meat filthy and unhealthy to eat.