The Muslim Council of Wales says more needs to be done to integrate Muslims into the wider communities of South Wales.
The comments came during an event in Cardiff last night.
The event ‘Can Muslims be British?’ was organised to improve relations by having people from various faiths gather and talk.
Mr. Mohammed Alamgir, The Director of Projects for the MCW, says the organisation is trying to promote acceptance of Muslims in Wales.
Mr Alamgir says, “The Muslim Council of Wales is an organisation that represents mosques and places of worship across Wales, our work is to bring people together to build social cohesion and strengthen relationships that are already there.
“We want to take what we’ve done… to where there’s less densely populated Muslim areas like Merthyr, Bridgend and the wider valleys community”.
Mr. Alamgir also says a lot more needs to be done in Britain for people to normalise the Islamic faith.
He says, “You would never ask can you be Christian and British. Or can you be Buddhist and British?”
Reverend Aled Edwards, Chief Executive of Cytun Churches Together in Wales, says events such as the one last night are very important for the community.
“I think it’s vital that we come together and share friendship and I think that’s the key to understanding each other.
“The important thing is that we put pictures out there to explain that dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims is very normal”.
Mr. Alamgir says ‘Can Muslims be British?’ was the first interfaith event in Wales in the past five years focused entirely on helping Muslims.
