How Wrexham's Muslim community came together in aftermath of New Zealand mosque attack

WHEN Wrexham Muslim Association bought the Miners' Institute building on Grosvenor Road in 2008, the reaction was overwhelming negative. The anti-Islam English Defence League mounted a campaign against the mosque, and held a demonstration in the town. Hundreds of abusive comments were posted on social media sites.

Now, more than a decade later, the association welcome over 200 worshippers to Friday prayers and with a commitment to preserve the institute's rich history, they have placed the previously derelict building back in the heart of the community.

For Dr Ikram Shah, 76, who arrived in Wrexham from his native Pakistan in 1967, establishing a thriving hub for the town's Muslim community has been a long journey. Wrexham's first mosque, a room above a kebab shop, was set up 1987, but only housed about seven people. Glyndŵr University stepped in in 1995 and provided a portable cabin.

"I came to Wrexham as a young doctor and we didn't have any facilities back then, so I would pray in my own room or in the hospital," explained Dr Shah. "If I wasn't working I would go to Manchester once or twice or year. We started upstairs above a kebab restaurant - it was a small space and if we had more than seven or eight people there there wasn't any room, so we'd sit in the corridor. Every time you prayed you would hit the wall."

The town's small but significant population of 1,500 Muslims now include many staff from the local Wrexham Maelor Hospital, and students of Glyndŵr University. They originate from about 56 countries but back then, with the nearest mosques in Rhyl and Chester, most working people were unable to make Friday prayers.

As founder members of Wrexham-based Together Creating Communities (TCC), the association enlisted the group's help to search for a building. They held a number of meetings with the council to find a suitable building to buy - without success. Park Street Church in Rhosddu was considered suitable but was sold with planning permission for housing: a Welsh Presbyterian church was almost purchased but covenants rendered the property unsuitable. Further commercial sites were unsuitable or too expensive. But as property prices dropped, more buildings became available. The Miners' Institute, had closed in 2008 after a drop in membership; it was derelict after its owners had gone bankrupt.

"We were housed in a chemistry lab at the university which we used for many years," said Dr Shah. "For 12 months we didn't have anywhere but we were always looking for a suitable building or empty plot.

"TCC have been extremely helpful in that way; people are saying we're part of the community, and we're working with the community as a community organisation.

"Because TCC have group instead of individual membership, we were all part of the big community - rather than an isolated, small, group. People knew us, they knew our faces, they talked to us, they understood what we said. It was on an equal basis."

Last week various members of TCC came together at the mosque to offer their support and sympathy following the tragic events in New Zealand last month when a 28-year-old white supremacist launched attacks on two Christchurch mosques, killing 50 people.

"We felt it was really important for a lot of people to come down today," said Kay Polley, lead community organiser for TCC. "We hear a lot of negativity in the news and it feels like things aren't going great, so we wanted to show that we have a lot more in common than that which divides.

"We are very proud to have Wrexham Muslim Association as members of TCC and they are people we have worked with for many years and regard as important members of our community.

"We are an alliance of over 30 groups who all work in partnership and identify issues of shared interest - it's actually really easy to do that because there are so many things that unite communities and which people really care about.

"After hearing what happened in New Zealand we felt it was really important to show solidarity with the Muslim community - there are a lot of problems across the world but hopefully that is not reflected in our community. We are very proud to be standing side by side with the Muslim community."

For Dr Shah, who has worked as a doctor in Wrexham for 26 years, the support the mosque has received from the town has proved welcome at a time when the Muslim community is understandably nervous and feeling threatened.

"It was very sad," he said. "I have been to New Zealand a number of times and people there are very nice and it is a very peaceful friendly place. It was a real shock.

"We had a lot of people ringing and sending us messages through the website and also people were coming to see us in person. It has been a great comfort to all of us here."

As well as thanking the people of Wrexham for their support, Dr Shah says he has been hugely impressed by the conduct of the New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who has been praised for her leadership and humanity in the aftermath of the tragedy.

"She has been very forthright and you could see it was coming from her heart and was sincere," he said. "It wasn't just political language - you hear some politicians here who just want to say the right thing for political reasons but with her you could see it was coming from the right place."

Dr Shah also had a defiant message for any using terror in the name of religion or to spread hatred and fear.

"What happened in New Zealand is a wake up call for everyone," he added. "Terrorists have no religion. It is terrorists that have killed more people in my home country of Pakistan in recent years than anything else.

"Some have walked into mosques and have blown themselves up - that is not how a Muslim acts. It is abhorrent and is against the Muslim faith. There is no justification at all."