THE doors to Horsham's mosque will open to the wider public this weekend in a move to educate people.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Horsham Islamic community's decision comes after terror attacks in Christchurch on Friday when a gunman killed 50 people at two central Christchurch mosques, Al Noor and Linwood.
Horsham Islamic Welfare Association's Rameez Malik said the support from the broader community after the terror attacks had "reaffirmed his faith in humanity".
Horsham people have shown their support for the Islamic community by sending flowers and cards to the mosque.
Mr Malik was on his way to pray on Friday when he learned about the terror attacks.
"Everyone was really shocked and people were scared and stunned by what happened. That was the first reaction," he said.
"It is a very small community for Horsham. We only have a handful of families here but, the regular people who come to the mosque, there are no changes to their behaviour.
"They are obviously more cautious and concerned about coming, but they are still attending the mosque."
After receiving flowers, cards and messages of support, Mr Malik said the association decided to open the mosque to the public on Sunday.
"We felt like this is the right time for us to open our doors again. We have done it in the past, but we feel like now is the right time to do it," he said.
"This is our way of saying thank you and to show that as much as we are welcomed into their world, they are welcomed in ours as well."
Mr Malik said the mosque opened its doors to the wider community when it opened in 2014. He said support in the early days was "fabulous" - and had remained positive ever since.
"Since opening the mosque, we have had the same response. We haven't had any major issues in regards to people feeling any hatred," he said.
Mr Malik said people need to interact with each other more often to understand different cultures and backgrounds.
"Sometimes people hear things in the media that are not right and people need to talk to their locals," he said.
"If you see the Muslims here in Horsham, there are a lot of doctors and scientists serving the local community. The key is to have these interactions and that is what we want to do by opening our doors."
Horsham's Islamic mosque will open to the public on Sunday between 11pm and 3pm.
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.