The chairman of Finsbury Park mosque is hoping its work in the community over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic will help to fight the Islamophobic abuse its members have faced.
The mosque’s community work has involved providing hundreds of food parcels to people in need, and working alongside other charities to provide PPE to local hospitals.
They have also started a 24-hour community helpline, offering emotional support for distressed and bereaved members of the community.
Mohammed Kozbar, chairman of the mosque, said: “As a community we have been targeted for quite a long time, not just the last few months, but years and it’s not stopping.”
Kozbar’s hope is that this community work will help to address the prejudice members of the mosque face, and “change peoples’ attitudes” towards the Muslim community.
Kozbar spoke of a large number of people “sitting behind their phones, using [social media] to spread hatred”. He also said the mosque has received a series of “very, very nasty” letters.
“We want to get to the bottom of these crimes, not just to report them,” and he is hoping that their work in the local community will help to reduce the prejudice directed towards his community.
As a result of the second lockdown the mosque has had to move prayer services online, although individual prayer is still allowed on site, and their work in the community is ongoing.
