National Mosque Open Day

The National Mosque Open Days (NMOD) are annual nationwide events held in Australia and South Africa, organised by the Lebanese Muslim Association and the South African Muslim Network respectively, which see mosques around each country hosting co-ordinated open days on the same dates.[1][2][3][4][5]

Australia

The event first took place in Australia, occurring on 25 October 2014, featuring nine participating mosques around Australia. National Mosque Open Day most recently took place on 31 October 2015, with fourteen participating mosques.

In 2015, National Mosque Open Day was prominently launched at Parliament House by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and the Greens Leader Richard Di Natale as part of National Day of Unity.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

National Mosque Open Day 2016 took place on 29 October.[12]

National Mosque Open Day logo

South Africa

The National Mosque Open Day was conceived as a platform to build relationships through conversation and promote social cohesion in the country and piloted in 2016 and 2017. The 2018 National Mosque Open Day campaign hosted over 800 participants across 20 mosques. Participants left the mosques with a better understanding of Islam, a sense of community and more accurate information and mutual understanding and tolerance that it brings.

The event is held annually on Heritage Day, 24 September.[13]

References

1. Visentin, Lisa (25 October 2014). "Mosque open day brings cultures, faiths together". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
2. "We're for Sydney". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
3. Safi, Michael (8 October 2014). "Australia's first national mosque 'open day' aims to clear up prejudices". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
4. "National Mosque Open Day - A Successful Event for Interreligious Dialogue - CAS". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
5. Terlato, Peter (25 October 2014). "Australian Mosques Open Doors To Non-Muslims On National Day of Unity". Businessinsider.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
6. "Category". Herald Sun. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
7. "2015 National Day of Unity". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
8. "Leaders launch National Unity Day". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
9. "Leaders launch national unity day". Livingsafetogether.gov.au. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
10. "Transcript - Remarks regarding national day of unity | Prime Minister of Australia". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
11. Ireland, Judith (13 October 2015). "'Assault on our values': Malcolm Turnbull urges Australians to maintain national unity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
12. "National Mosque Open Day - Lebanese Muslim Association". Lma.org.au. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
13. "National Mosque Open Day South Africa". www.samnet.co.za. Retrieved 3 August 2019.

External links

• Official website - Australia
• Official website - South Africa