The Union Masjid and Education Centre in Birmingham in the United Kingdom has been vandalised once again, with derogatory insults and anti-Muslim tropes spraypainted on walls, reports 5Pillarsuk (5pillarsuk.com).
This is the third attack on the Union Masjid. Last month, a mosque in Manchester was desecrated in what is seen as a sharp increase in Islamophobic attacks in the UK amid hate-filled rants against Islam and Muslims by media and politicians. And in another recent incident a woman wearing hijab was deliberately runover in another horrific incident in which the driver.
Dilly Hussein, the deputy editor of 5Pillarsuk, said a deliberate climate had been created which allowed hate crime and online abuse of Muslims to proliferate.
He said Islamophobia was aided and abetted by the UK’s news media, citing a study that more than half of their coverage had an anti-Islamic bias.
Hussein’s comments follow in the wake of a Manchester (UK) community that has been left in shock after intruders broke into a mosque, looting and vandalising the building, 5pillars (www.5pillarsuk.com) reported on Monday.
Desecrated copies of the Qur’an were left behind alongside damage estimated to exceed £30,000 (R600000).
Local residents say the attack has caused “significant distress” as police hunt for the thieves.
The Islamic website said the Elaf Masjid in Cheadle Heath, Manchester, was the victim of an overnight break-in, shortly after the mosque was used to host celebrations and prayers for Eid al-Fitr, which fell on Friday March 20.
Congregants of the mosque returned for early morning Fajr prayers on Saturday, to find the devastating state of the mosque and significant damage inside.
The damage inflicted on the mosque is believed to be worth over £30,000, as the culprit was caught approaching the mosque on CCTV before damaging the system and tripped the power circuit.
Damage was inflicted to the windows, the front door and lockbox, and then they took an estimated £5,000 in cash donations, which was collected to maintain the running of the mosque and support the needy within the community.
The suspect also destroyed a newly installed sound system, which had been put in place just before Ramadan, worth over £6,000 (R80000).
A bookshelf with Qur’ans was also damaged, with the holy books being thrown onto the floor, 5Pillars reported.
Children’s classrooms also suffered damage, where the mosque attendees found children’s toys scattered on the floor, and cupboards broken into.
To make matters worse, the suspect had turned up the boiler’s temperature from 21 degrees to 88 degrees before leaving.
Ben Pickering, 38, was the first to see the damage inflicted on the mosque when he turned up at 5:23am for Fajr prayers: “This incident has caused significant distress within the local community,” he said.
“It occurred the morning after Eid, one of the most important days in the Islamic calendar, when the mosque had just been attended by large numbers of families and children.”
According to the mosque membership, this is the fifth time the mosque has been targeted since it opened last year, which has left many in the local community feeling fearful and vulnerable amid rising Islamophobia in Britain, 5pillars reported.