A British imam has countered claims that Islam is incompatible with values in the UK, saying that embracing "difference and pluralism" is "what makes us British".
In this exclusive statement to Sky News, Qari Asim, imam of the Makkah Masjid mosque in Leeds, issued the following call for acceptance and tolerance following a rise in attacks against Muslims in the wake of the Paris attacks.
He says:
The dreadful atrocities committed in Paris have been categorically condemned by Muslim leaders in Britain.
Ordinary British Muslims have also been at pains to emphasise the huge chasm between the true Islam, which teaches peace and tolerance, and the barbaric actions of those who have hijacked the faith to further their own geo-political aims. [Sky News] Read more
