On behalf of York Mosque, I extend my gratitude to the people who attended our first Open Day on August 1.

More than 1,000 turned up and were all impressed by the way our visitors conducted themselves.

This event, initiated by the women's group at the Mosque, was made possible through the generous sponsorship of the City of York Council (Hull Road Ward), which we also thank.

We are also grateful for the publicity we received from this paper.

Our Muslim faith teaches to respect the religions of others and to recognise, in spite of the many obvious differences, the overriding importance of our shared belief, especially with Jews and Christians, in the oneness of God.

With this in mind, we were particularly touched that a number of our guests should have felt sufficiently at home in our place of worship to offer up prayers in their own way.

Each and everyone came with genuine interest, sincere (and sometimes challenging) questions and real respect - there wasn't even any litter to pick up at the end of the day. We hope everyone enjoyed being a part of the day as much as we did. See you all at the next one.

Mohamed El Gomati,

York Mosque,

Bull Lane, York.

Updated: 08:45 Saturday, August 07, 2004