Muslim leaders in Manchester are expressing concern about a spike in Islamophobic hate after the suicide bombing that killed 22 on Monday night.
A series of abusive incidents directed at Muslims followed the attack including an arson attack on a mosque in Oldham, Greater Manchester, a Muslim girl being spat at and another being told to 'go home', according to the Guardian.
Fawzi Haffar, trustee of the Manchester Islamic Centre in Didsbury, where bomber Salman Abedi is thought to have prayed, spoke outside the mosque on Wednesday night, seeking to dismiss the link.
In a strongly worded statement he condemned the attack as a 'horrific atrocity', saying 'this act of cowardice has no place in our religion or any other religion'.
But when pressed Haffar refused to answer questions on the centre's links with Abedi, despite one of the imams, Mohammed Saeed, describing how the 22-year-old had looked at him 'with hate' after he preached a sermon against ISIS.
Haffar went on to say Muslims should not have to apologise for extremists.
'I say to Muslims you should not have to apologise for the actions of individuals,' he said.
'No other community has ever been held to account like this. Let me be clear – what happened on Monday was a crime of epic proportions. It was epic, evil and one we condemn with the strongest condemnation.
'But let's also be clear about this – why do we then have to stand up and say: "we apologise"? It's not my fault. It's not the fault of the religion.'
He added: 'We're sick of having to apologise and being the first to condemn it. What more can we do? Tell me what more can we do?'
Going on to distance himself and the mosque from Abedi he said: 'We express concern that a small section of the media are manufacturing stories and making unfounded points.'
He added he was worried about the rise in hatred directed at Muslims.
'These are terrible anti-Muslim acts ranging from verbal abuse to acts of criminal damage to mosques in the area and outside the area. We do encourage any incidents to be reported as a hate crime.'
The Muslim chaplain at the University of Manchester, Mohammed Ullah, said he had heard a number of reports of attacks on Muslims but students didn't want to cause a fuss so didn't report them.
'Islamophobic attacks have increased in the last few years exponentially," he told the Guardian. 'I tell Muslim students to report these hate incidents when they happen. Be vigilant against it and don't allow hate to divide us.'
