http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10516465.National_sermon_on_child_grooming_shunned_as_a_stunt_by_many_Muslims_in_Oxford/SEVERAL Oxford mosques did not take part in yesterday’s simultaneous anti-grooming sermons held across the country.Hundred of sermons took place after a gang of seven men from Oxford were given prison sentences totalling at least 95 years for sexually exploiting girls as young as 11 in Oxford. Five were of Pakistani origin and two were from North Africa.
But Oxford Islamic leaders yesterday said it was wrong to link child sex grooming cases to their religion as the abusers were not practising Muslims.
Together Against Grooming (Tag) said 500 mosques across the country were taking part in sermons to address the issue at Friday prayers.
But those who attended the Madina Mosque in Stanley Road, the Bath Street Mosque and Oxford Central Mosque in Manzil Way said they did not take part.
Imam Monawar Hussain, of the Oxford Foundation youth project, went to Friday prayers at the Central Oxford Mosque in Manzil Way and said the Imam of the mosque spoke about Ramadan and charity.
He said the Tag sermons were a “publicity stunt” and fed into the far-right agenda that grooming gangs stemmed from the Islamic culture.
He said: “Most of the guys who did this in Oxford were not going to the mosque. I have always felt it is not a race or religious issue.
Topic: National sermon on child grooming shunned as a stunt by many Muslims in Oxford (Read 399 times)