Three years ago the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, United Kingdom, received a national award for their efforts against tackling extremism. The mosque was awarded the prestigious Visible Quality Mark awarded by the national body, Community Matters, in 2014 and was the third religious faith organisation to have received this award, according to The Independent.
The award came as a result of the hard work of the new mosque owners, who had a zero stance against extremism, which led to a complete change in the image of the place of worship.
The chair of the mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, had told the Islington Gazette, “We are proud to be the first mosque and the third faith organisation in the UK to achieve this award, it gave us the confidence to improve the standard of operation and accountability of our organisation.”
In an article written by The Independent in 2014, Kozbar had said he felt a “strong sense of responsibility”.
He further said he wanted to be a “role model to other mosques” and deal with extremism and other problems.
Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP at the time, had said he recognised the efforts against extremism put in by the mosque. “Your hard work and good results that are so valuable within our community deserve this wider recognition. This endorsed standards award can give the public confidence that this charity is well run and give any funders assurance about how their money is being spent,” he said.
The mosque had also participated in community outreach programmes which recently included helping survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire and interfaith projects to help feed the homeless as well as other activities for local youths.
On June 19, a van plowed into worshippers near a London mosque, injuring 10 people in what Prime Minister Theresa May said was a sickening, terrorist attack on Muslims.
Shortly after midnight, the vehicle swerved into a group of people leaving prayers at the Muslim Welfare House and the nearby Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, one of the biggest in the country.
The driver, a 48-year-old white man, was grabbed at the scene by locals and pinned down until police arrived.
The attack is the fourth in Britain since March and the third to involve a vehicle deliberately driven at pedestrians.
This article originally appeared on The Independent.
