Worshippers arriving at the Islamic Cultural Centre and London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park for Friday prayers were greeted by a police cordon following an incident that took place earlier that morning. The mosque was re-opened at 1.15pm just in time for the congregational jummah prayer.
I had refrained from posting anything until now as I wanted to independently verify my understanding of events but the MCB have now issued a press release which supports the story I heard: Yet Another Violent Attack on a UK Imam [mcb.org.uk]
Essentially someone attacked the imam (a very recent appointment, generally considered a nice chap who was noteworthy for speaking very fluent English) following the end of the Fajr (dawn) prayer. The attacker was apprehended by a security guard but not until both of the victim’s eyes had been severely gouged by a metal implement. The imam has had emergency surgery but apparently it’s too early to know to what extent he will recover any sight.
In their press release, the MCB link this event to a recent trend of attacks imams and mosques across Britain by anti-Muslim bigots. I don’t know what additional information they have about the attacker but I think it’s premature to jump to any conclusions as to their motivation.
Update, 13 Aug 2007: The ICC have now published their own press release which is more non-committal about the motivation of the attack:
… questions naturally arise whether the present climate of Islamophobia is responsible for such [an] unprovoked and violent assault in a place of worship … [the] Metropolitan Police have not as yet established whether this particular crime was motivated by racial hatred.
Update 2, 13 Aug 2007: The story has now been picked up bizarrely, by the Scotsman: Man charged over attack on Muslim cleric at mosque
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