Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre to organise open days to build community links

The Courier reports on an initiative being developed by the Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre in Fife to host open days at the mosque in a bid to build friendly relations between Muslims and the local community.

At a meeting held earlier this month with the SNP MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Roger Mullin, participants learned of the scale of the spike in hate crime in Scotland in the aftermath of the Paris attacks in November 2015. Mr Mullin referred to an FOI request which disclosed 60 hate crimes recorded by Police Scotland in Fife between November 12 and December 31 last year.

The Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre was itself the target of a reprisal attack in the weeks following the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby when in July 2013 its walls were daubed with graffiti stating “All Muslims will perish” while cars belonging to members of the centre and parked in the centre’s car park were sprayed painted with crosses on license plates and on a bonnet.

The centre is now considering holding open days at the mosque. Ahmad Al-Remal, deputy secretary of Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre, told the local paper: “We’re seeing the repercussions of years and years of, maybe, being not close enough to each other.

“I think we need to be a little bit more proactive as a minority.”