Fifty things to do before I'm fifty, My Mosque Visit

I don't have any Muslim friends, or even any acquaintances so it was down to Google to find out about visiting a Mosque. It was easier than I thought, one of the first listings from my search was a national initiative called 'Visit my Mosque'  Its an annual event and Mosques across the country take part. I'd thoroughly recommend a visit if you get a chance.

I chose to visit a Mosque in Peterborough, tying in a long overdue visit with family. A little research led me to the Masjid Khadijah Islamic Centre. Not one with fancy architecture or towering minarets but the one that seemed the friendliest.

Before I visited I was trying to analyse why there is such mistrust of Muslims in society. I've always hated the practice of 'tarring people with the same brush'. Of course, the media and hateful newspapers have their part to play; there's no getting away from the drip-feeding of racist scaremongering that has  taken place over the past few years. Even the most liberal minded person may start to believe that there's an element of truth in some of these articles.... They wouldn't be allowed to print this stuff if it wasn't true.. right?

Of course, when you dig deeper, you find that many tabloid newspapers have some kind of vested interest in creating divisions in our society and the stories they sell as truth are nothing more than fairy tales and tittle tattle. How all this has taken hold I don't really understand. The world for most of us is smaller than its ever been, with cheap air travel, Skype and a world of information at our fingertips. Yet we seem more secular and more distrustful of each other than ever before. The loud angry voices have been allowed to divide people. It's time for the quiet reasonable folk to start listening to each other.

Even with an open mind, I was still a little nervous about visiting the Mosque.... How would they see me? Am I an infidel in their eyes? I've been judged for one reason or another for most of my life so it's not a new thing to me but rightly or wrongly, I do still care what people think.

If there was any judgement by my hosts, I was certainly not aware of it. I was welcomed warmly from the moment I walked through the door. Any reservations I had were quickly quashed. Everyone was so charming and open. There was no awkwardness and I felt able to ask questions without fear of causing offence. There was a lovely community feel about the place. It's not just a place for worship but for people to get together.  The more people I talked to, the more convinced I became that there is far more that binds us than divides us. Openness and trust is the key I think and a visit to a Mosque gives a valuable insight to Muslim faith and culture and hopefully to acceptance on both sides.