Hero imam Mohammed Mahmoud, hailed for his brave response to the Finsbury Park terror attack, runs London’s new half marathon to help hungry children.
Mr Mahmoud, 31, stopped a crowd attacking Darren Osbourne who drove a van into Muslim worshippers in June. Osborne was jailed for murdering Makram Ali, 51, and injuring 12 others.
The imam, who gave evidence at the trial last month, said taking part in The Big Half is his “small gesture” to fight the dual scourges of child hunger and food surplus in the capital.
He signed up to Team Felix, a group of 57 people who ran to raise funds for The Felix Project, after hearing that at least 70,000 children go to school hungry daily in London – as well as seeing signs of “unacceptable” hunger in his own community.
“People come in during prayers and say ‘Please, for the sake of God, I don’t have a meal to eat,'” said Mr Mahmoud.
The mosque has no fund to help, so staff reach into their own pockets.
“We do what we can on a personal level, but the mosque is so stretched. That’s why it’s so important to cooperate with organisations that work specifically on these causes like The Felix Project,” he said.
“We must support causes that restore people’s dignity and make them feel needed and wanted and cared about and loved.”
Support Mohammed Mahmoud running the Big Half here.
Source: London Evening Standard
