Scottish Church Opens Doors to Muslims

Aberdeen: A Scottish church has become the first in the UK to share its premises with Muslim worshippers. St John’s Episcopal Church in Aberdeen now welcomes hundreds of Muslims praying five times a day in their building, as the nearby mosque was so small that they were forced to worship outside. The minister of St John’s, Rev Isaac Poobalan, has handed over part of the church hall to Chief Imam, Ahmed Megharbi and the imam has led prayers in the main chapel. Rev Poobalan said that he would not be true to his faith if he did not offer to help. ‘Praying is never wrong. My job is to encourage people to pray. The mosque was so full at times, there would be people outside in the wind, snow and rain praying. I knew I couldn’t just let this happen, because I would be abandoning what the Bible teaches us about how we should treat our neighbours,” explained Rev Poobalan.
St John’s is part of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion and distinct from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.