Friday is marked as an auspicious day for muslims all over the world; muslims hold a special congregational prayer. However, on Friday 15thMarch 2019, things took a spin in Christchurch in New Zealand, which affected the world. On this date, 49 innocent worshippers were killed, and 20 worshippers were left critically injured. This included men, women, and young children. A number of families have now been torn apart, and a spark of hatred, racism, and bigotry has appeared since.
Shaukat Warraich, CEO of Faith Associates who has experience in working with hundreds of faith based institutes, including mosques has strongly condemned this barbaric act of terrorism. He has stated ‘first. Quebec (Canada), Finsbury Park (London) and now Christchurch (New Zealand) mosques- these terrorist acts have occurred across the glove over the past two years. We need to protect our mosques from growing far right terrorism. Supremacy of any nature is evil and a dangerous plague, which we must all stand against! We should not allow terrorists to triumph. Together we are stronger. We must stand side by side against anti muslim hatred.
Listen to Shaukat discuss the work around mosque security with Radio Islam on
As one of the marker leaders for providing governance and regulatory advice to faith-based institutes all over the UK, we assert that safety is a prime concern for us. We have worked with faith institution leaders, the police and authorities to develop guidance and resources that engage and support faith leaders in preparing to respond to incidents. We strongly urge faith leaders to review our several publications to prepare for an incident; advice on how to make an immediate response; organisation and management of the response and what to do after an incident. It is not enough for us to sit from the comforts of our home and spread negative comments about terror attacks. We need to take a stand to minimise the risks of another catastrophic event. We must maintain the safety of our mosques not only for the community, but also to preserve the sanctity of our mosques for future generations.
What can faith institutes do?
In order to try and mitigate the harm caused by hate crime, we have developed a toolkit of resources to equip the community with advice on how to effectively ensure the security of mosques.
Follow the links below to download your free copy of our resources:
Mosque Security and Safety Tips: http://www.faithassociates.co.uk/publications/mosque-security-and-safety-tips/
Incident Management Guide 2019
http://www.faithassociates.co.uk/publications/incident-management-guide-2019/
