Visit My Mosque

{{Short description|Initiative encouraging British mosques to hold open days}}

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Visit My Mosque day is a national initiative facilitated by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), encouraging mosques across the United Kingdom to hold mosque open days.

The Muslim Council of Britain is a representative Muslim umbrella organization with over 500 affiliated national, regional and local organisations, mosques, charities and schools.

It runs annually and aims to encourage all mosques in the UK to host an open day at least once a year. Further aims include dispelling misconceptions about Islam, making members of the British public more aware of their Muslim neighbours and increasing community cohesion in cities and towns across the UK.{{cite web|url=http://www.visitmymosque.org|website=Official Website|title=Visit My Mosque}}

Starting with about 20 mosques in 2015, it grew to over 80 mosques in 2016 and over 150 mosques in 2017. The 2017 event highlighted social action initiatives including feeding the homeless, blood donation drives, working with refugees and food collection drives for local food banks.{{cite web |title=2017 Mosques Spotlights |publisher=Visit My Mosque |url=http://www.visitmymosque.org/find-my-mosque/2017-spotlights/ |accessdate=4 March 2018 }} "Visit My Mosque day" in 2018 saw more than 200 mosques take part in the initiative, under the theme "Open Doors | Open Mosques | Open communities". A YouGov poll, commissioned by the MCB found that 90% of Britons had not been inside a mosque in recent years. The poll also found that 70% of Britons have not been inside another faith's place of worship.{{cite web|title=90% of people haven't been inside a mosque|url=http://www.mcb.org.uk/90-of-people-havent-been-inside-a-mosque-change-that-this-weekend/|work=MCB |date=13 February 2018 |accessdate=9 May 2018 }} The theme was all about letting the local community know that they are welcome, while encouraging other places of worship to uphold an open door policy at least once a year also. Visit My Mosque day is reported widely in the national and international press.{{cite news |first=Harriet |last=Sherwood |title=Visit My Mosque day: British Muslims offer tours and tea to public|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/05/visit-my-mosque-day-muslims-offer-tours-and-tea-to-the-curious|work=The Guardian |date=5 February 2016 |accessdate=4 March 2018 }}{{cite news |first=Anealla |last=Safdar |title='Visit my mosque' day in UK bids to tackle Islamophobia|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/mosque-day-uk-bids-tackle-islamophobia-160130172406868.html|work=Al-Jazeera |date=30 January 2016 |accessdate=4 March 2018}}{{cite news|first=Harun |last=Nasrullah |title=UK mosques take part in open day|url=http://muslimnews.co.uk/newspaper/home-news/200-uk-mosques-take-part-open-day|work=The Muslim News |date= 29 March 2018 |accessdate=9 May 2018 }} Mosques from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland take part.{{cite news |first=Joe |last=Smith |title=Mosques across Wales open their doors in bid to share 'positive message' of Islam |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/mosques-across-wales-open-doors-10854011|work=WalesOnline |date=7 February 2016 |accessdate=4 March 2018 }}{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Campbell |title=Belfast Islamic centre opens its doors to 'dispel myths' |url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/02/08/news/belfast-islamic-centre-opens-its-doors-to-dispel-myths-about-islam-410239/|work=Irish News |date=8 February 2016 |accessdate=4 March 2018 }}

Many mosques in the United Kingdom hold open days or tours for neighbours, schools and members of the public regularly{{cite web|title=Liverpool Al-Rahma Masjid – Visits & Tours |url=http://www.liverpoolmuslimsociety.org.uk/1/visits-tours }}{{cite web|title=Shah Jahan Mosque – Education|url=https://www.shahjahanmosque.org.uk/education}}{{cite web|title=Visiting Southampton Medina Mosque|url=http://www.medinamosque.org.uk/tours.aspx}}{{cite news|title=Maidenhead Mosque - Visits & Tours|url=http://www.maidenheadmosque.org/1/visits-tours}} and many have open door policies. Visit My Mosque day is essentially an initiative whereby mosques time their open days to be on the same day of the year.