I hate the way Islam has become such a thing of fear for us in ‘the west’. Especially when every day I see beauty in Islamic culture all around me.

Today I was in Maidenhead, a town only fifteen miles or so from home and the horizon there has changed (in my view for the better) with the addition of this lovely building.

I’ve always loved the look of mosques. I suppose it’s because the look is middle-eastern and I have spent two parts of my life living in the middle-east. I was born in Cyprus, one of those places, like Turkey, where east meets west. In every town and village in Cyprus there were mosques alongside the Greek Orthodox churches, although I think they’ve largely gone since the partition of the country. Until the war there seemed to be a happy co-existence between the Greeks and Turks (well to my innocent eyes anyway). Now, rather depressingly, there is hostility and suspicion.

Later, my family moved to Bahrain and we lived in a very much more strict Muslim culture. I don’t really remember much about the mosques there, it was all a very long time ago. My most vivid memory of the Muslim nature of the culture was when Ramadan was being celebrated and we could hear the drums at the feasts at night. It all seems like a long time ago. I’d like to think something of the interest I have in it now comes from osmosis from the times I’ve been in close proximity.

More recently, I was in Istanbul and loved hearing the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer from the minarets……well at all times other than the 5am calling!

Finally, of course, my time in Southall came with a liberal sprinkling of such stuff too.

Although I know nothing of Islamic art, I do love the bold colours and intricate designs of what I see. That’s what appealed to me as I saw this mosque for the first time today. The beautiful elegance of the minaret and its intricate design is really lovely. Just beautiful.

We have a big Muslim population in the South-East and I see more and more cultural centres and mosques opening all the time. I was delighted recently when a halal grocery store opened up close to here. It’s a long way to Southall if all I want is a bag of jeera! Interestingly I always thought halal was a reference to meat only but in fact it covers a wide range of food, mostly vegetarian.

Anyway, I loved the look of this building as the sky was turning blue.