- Worshippers flock to attend Friday prayer at Northbrooks Mosque in Harlow after arson attack
- Two teenagers arrested and released on bail under investigations of the attack
- Muslims hope to apply for planning permission for a new and more secure building
Shocked by the vicious attack targeting their mosque, dozens of Muslim worshippers attended Friday prayer at Northbrooks Mosque in Harlow, Essex.
The mosque was the target of a hateful arson on Tuesday night, when the curtains and carpets in the prayer room were scorched.
“All the people, the brothers praying in here, are shocked because we are a very peaceful community in Harlow and all the elderly neighbors are very nice to us when we come here, park our cars, but some youngsters are disturbing us and we feel unsafe,” Imam Sheikh Saleh Hamidi said, BBC reported.
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The jummah prayer was so popular some worshippers crowded outside.
Police arrested two teenagers who were release on bail under investigations of the attack treated as “racially aggravated” arson.
Repeated Attacks
The attack isn’t the first to target the Harlow mosque. According to Mumin Ali, a mosque official, windows had been smashed, CCTV damaged, and dog faeces dumped at the main doors on previous occasions.
Currently, the Muslim community hope to apply soon for planning permission for a new and more secure building in Harlow.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK.
According to a 2022 survey by Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and Muslim Census, 42 percent of mosques or Islamic institutions have experienced religiously motivated attacks in the last three years.
The most common form of attack experienced by mosques and other Islamic institutions was vandalism, followed by burglary or theft (34 percent), with 83 percent being attacked at least once a year.