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| Grenfell one year on: the mosque manager who took in survivors | Grenfell one year on: the mosque manager who took in survivors |
| (7 months later) | |
| It is a 20-minute walk from Grenfell Tower to the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage centre run by Abdurahman Sayed. The mosque became a central source of emergency support on the night of 14 June and has continued to help survivors. Sayed, a benevolent and softly spoken man, remembers: “I was at home – I live in east London – and it was around 5am when I got a text from a colleague stating there was a fire. I said we must open our door, welcome anyone, regardless of faith or gender.” Sayed had no idea of the fire’s scale. He thought everything would be resolved in no time. | It is a 20-minute walk from Grenfell Tower to the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage centre run by Abdurahman Sayed. The mosque became a central source of emergency support on the night of 14 June and has continued to help survivors. Sayed, a benevolent and softly spoken man, remembers: “I was at home – I live in east London – and it was around 5am when I got a text from a colleague stating there was a fire. I said we must open our door, welcome anyone, regardless of faith or gender.” Sayed had no idea of the fire’s scale. He thought everything would be resolved in no time. |
| It was Ramadan and at the mosque they had laid in supplies of water and dates for breaking their fast each evening. Sayed drove directly to the mosque, loaded his car with the dates, water and a few clothes, and headed towards the tower. He found Ladbroke Grove cordoned off. It was not until later, with the help of two police officers (“we have a good relationship with them”), that he was escorted through the checkpoints to deposit his offerings at the Methodist church. He was on automatic pilot; it was too early to think. He could clearly see that the building was shrouded in smoke yet in a situation of such severity he could think only about how to give comfort to survivors. | It was Ramadan and at the mosque they had laid in supplies of water and dates for breaking their fast each evening. Sayed drove directly to the mosque, loaded his car with the dates, water and a few clothes, and headed towards the tower. He found Ladbroke Grove cordoned off. It was not until later, with the help of two police officers (“we have a good relationship with them”), that he was escorted through the checkpoints to deposit his offerings at the Methodist church. He was on automatic pilot; it was too early to think. He could clearly see that the building was shrouded in smoke yet in a situation of such severity he could think only about how to give comfort to survivors. |
| There has been no shortage of accounts of Grenfell residents praying to God – or Allah – for rescue that never came. To what extent does a disaster like this test not only religious leaders but religion itself? Sayed gently responds: Islam prescribes acceptance. The losses people have suffered are huge – Sayed knew a number of people among the dead – but he hopes that for Muslim survivors there might be some comfort in knowing that those who died are “martyrs and granted paradise”. Prayer continues to sustain survivors at Al-Manaar, along with the recitation of holy verses. | There has been no shortage of accounts of Grenfell residents praying to God – or Allah – for rescue that never came. To what extent does a disaster like this test not only religious leaders but religion itself? Sayed gently responds: Islam prescribes acceptance. The losses people have suffered are huge – Sayed knew a number of people among the dead – but he hopes that for Muslim survivors there might be some comfort in knowing that those who died are “martyrs and granted paradise”. Prayer continues to sustain survivors at Al-Manaar, along with the recitation of holy verses. |
| A year ago, the mosque’s downstairs rooms – large, elegant assembly halls that have since been named “Grenfell 1” and “Grenfell 2” – briefly offered shelter (the council were quick to house survivors in hotels). The centre filled up with donations. “People would turn up in the middle of the night, having forgotten baby food because of their trauma. They knew they could be assured of finding what they needed here.” He smiles, glad to focus on the positive. He tries to avoid blame, “personally and professionally”. | A year ago, the mosque’s downstairs rooms – large, elegant assembly halls that have since been named “Grenfell 1” and “Grenfell 2” – briefly offered shelter (the council were quick to house survivors in hotels). The centre filled up with donations. “People would turn up in the middle of the night, having forgotten baby food because of their trauma. They knew they could be assured of finding what they needed here.” He smiles, glad to focus on the positive. He tries to avoid blame, “personally and professionally”. |
| Sayed was very concerned by the community’s fury, which he euphemistically characterises as “becoming defensive”. The mosque’s mission was to restore calm. He admits it was not easy. The first community meeting was held at the mosque with the hope that a religious venue might make people less aggressive but “when you don’t know what has happened to missing friends and family weeks on, it causes turbulence”. | Sayed was very concerned by the community’s fury, which he euphemistically characterises as “becoming defensive”. The mosque’s mission was to restore calm. He admits it was not easy. The first community meeting was held at the mosque with the hope that a religious venue might make people less aggressive but “when you don’t know what has happened to missing friends and family weeks on, it causes turbulence”. |
| Throughout our exchange, I note Sayed’s delicacy. When I ask if he feels the tower should be swiftly demolished instead of hanging on like a doomed memorial, he replies: “Anything that happens to that building must reflect the desires and sensitivities of survivors.” And the mosque’s tactful policy is “not to ask survivors too many questions”. | Throughout our exchange, I note Sayed’s delicacy. When I ask if he feels the tower should be swiftly demolished instead of hanging on like a doomed memorial, he replies: “Anything that happens to that building must reflect the desires and sensitivities of survivors.” And the mosque’s tactful policy is “not to ask survivors too many questions”. |
| Al-Manaar is an extraordinary place, determined to dispel stereotypes about Islam and denounce criminals who commit acts of terrorism in the name of the faith. It is a fine, spacious, multitasking building. Professional psychotherapy was an important part of what the mosque, with council support, was able to offer and this continues. Sayed shows me the counselling room with flowers and pretty cushion covers, and the kitchen where women from the tower come twice a week to cook and be together. Another small room gave Grenfell’s breastfeeding mothers privacy. He reveals that the mosque now shelters homeless people in winter – something that did not happen pre-Grenfell. “We felt more confident once we had coped with the Grenfell crisis.” | Al-Manaar is an extraordinary place, determined to dispel stereotypes about Islam and denounce criminals who commit acts of terrorism in the name of the faith. It is a fine, spacious, multitasking building. Professional psychotherapy was an important part of what the mosque, with council support, was able to offer and this continues. Sayed shows me the counselling room with flowers and pretty cushion covers, and the kitchen where women from the tower come twice a week to cook and be together. Another small room gave Grenfell’s breastfeeding mothers privacy. He reveals that the mosque now shelters homeless people in winter – something that did not happen pre-Grenfell. “We felt more confident once we had coped with the Grenfell crisis.” |
| In hindsight, he would have liked to have appointed a professional crisis manager when disaster hit. “We had no clue what was going on outside here, no idea who was doing what and how.” They were under-resourced and would not have coped without volunteers. “Huge credit to them – we had between 50 to 100, 24 hours a day, from all walks of life.” He revels in the fact that the West London Synagogue and local churches gave donations. “Some volunteers are still volunteering.” | In hindsight, he would have liked to have appointed a professional crisis manager when disaster hit. “We had no clue what was going on outside here, no idea who was doing what and how.” They were under-resourced and would not have coped without volunteers. “Huge credit to them – we had between 50 to 100, 24 hours a day, from all walks of life.” He revels in the fact that the West London Synagogue and local churches gave donations. “Some volunteers are still volunteering.” |
| Sayed tells a story: “A white gentleman walked into the mosque and asked for some private space, a candle and a lighter. I was about to ask my colleague to buy a candle for him but luckily the colleague found one on the premises – miracle! – I never expected we’d have one because, unlike in churches, there is less use of candles in mosques. I found the gentleman the private space and waited for him, thinking he might need assistance or a hug, or that I might comfort him in some way. He made the sign of the cross – so I could see he was a Christian. He had lost his brother in the tower and wanted to come to us to ‘do something for my brother’. It was the first and last time I saw him.” | Sayed tells a story: “A white gentleman walked into the mosque and asked for some private space, a candle and a lighter. I was about to ask my colleague to buy a candle for him but luckily the colleague found one on the premises – miracle! – I never expected we’d have one because, unlike in churches, there is less use of candles in mosques. I found the gentleman the private space and waited for him, thinking he might need assistance or a hug, or that I might comfort him in some way. He made the sign of the cross – so I could see he was a Christian. He had lost his brother in the tower and wanted to come to us to ‘do something for my brother’. It was the first and last time I saw him.” |
| The moving thing for Sayed was, in part, that it was to the mosque the man gravitated. If there is any good to come out of Grenfell it is, he feels, in the breaking down of religious barriers, an improved, generous and unifying interfaith spirit. Even if, only faintly, it is a phoenix of sorts. | The moving thing for Sayed was, in part, that it was to the mosque the man gravitated. If there is any good to come out of Grenfell it is, he feels, in the breaking down of religious barriers, an improved, generous and unifying interfaith spirit. Even if, only faintly, it is a phoenix of sorts. |
| • The student midwife who rushed to help on the night of the fire | • The student midwife who rushed to help on the night of the fire |
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