After the London bomb attacks on 7 July, the Government and the police said that the attacks pointed towards Islamist terrorists - possibly linked to al-Qaeda. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that a suicide bombing may have caused one or more of the blasts. It's still to be confirmed whether the group was behind the bomb blasts but unfortunately, it does mean that some people will point the finger of blame at the Muslim community. Dr Fiaz Hussein from the Luton Council of Mosques told us how he condemned the acts and how the Muslim community would increase their already considerable efforts to work with other faiths to create more understanding. Q. The Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he would be working closely with different groups to prevent any attacks on British ethnic minorities as a result of the bombings in London. What's the reaction been within the Muslim community? Dr Fiaz Hussain: Like everybody else, can I start by condemning what happened. It was an evil act and of course our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The reaction has been that we are horrified like everybody else. We are shocked with what took place. It doesn't represent any faith whatsoever. I think people who do these things don't have any faith. They don't really have any value as far as human beings are concerned. What took place was just terrible. Q. What happened in London was an indiscriminate attack on defenceless people and we know you feel the same. Are you very concerned that certain sections of the British community will once again use it as an excuse to wrongly blame Muslims? Dr Fiaz Hussain: Quite clearly there may be an element of that, but the reality is that the people who have been affected, the people who have been killed and the people who have been injured are across the board. The residents of the areas where the attacks took place are mainly Muslims, so quite clearly it wasn't targetted against non-Muslims as such. But there are always going to be individuals who use any excuse to act in a certain way. Q. The reality is we are ALL at risk from a MINORITY of people who act indiscriminately. In this area there is normally a good healthy partnership between different faiths but it's just that when these things happen a small minority will point the finger. How do we combat that? Dr Fiaz Hussain: The more people who understand the reality the better. That is why we tend to have events like the National Mosque Open Day and we've just had the Luton Faith walk where we walked from a church to a mosque to a Gurdwara and so on. The purpose of this was to improve the understanding of the various faiths that reside within our town and within our cities so that by understanding one another we can begin to respect and work with each other better. What we do now is we double our efforts and that's exactly what's happening. Today is Friday, a special day for Muslims and I can assure everybody that there will be prayers across all the mosques for the victims and their families. Later on the churches and the Luton faith group are coming together for a press conference. What it means is that we will gel together even more. Q. In this country, ALL communities will pick themselves up after this and carry on. Dr Fiaz Hussain: Exactly, we are proud to be British, we are proud to be Muslims quite clearly, and I think what took place didn't reflect any faith, and those who did what they did need to be brought to justice. Q. What was your initial feeling when the statement from al-Qaeda was released on the Internet, claiming responsibility for this attack? Dr Fiaz Hussain: A number of groups will try to claim responsibility because it's a high profile thing. The reality is that those who did this don't represent anybody but themselves and their own egos. They are not representative of the Muslim community in Britain and across the world. Q. We got this e-mail from Steve in Bedford: "It was only last week that Bedford saw a march to the town centre by the local Asian community in protest about the allegations of mis-use of the Koran. It would be great if you could let me know when they plan the next march in protest against these bombings. I think the British people need to hear more from the Asian community condemning the actions of a few bad apples that are reflecting very badly on certain aspects of religious beliefs." What's your reaction to that? Dr Fiaz Hussain: I think we can say what we say, but it depends whether people listen. We are saying we condem what took place. The Muslim Council of Britain said the same thing. We as British are proud to be British and we shouldn't under value what we are saying. People need to understand that we do work together with other communities. We want to work together, we want to understand one another. These things do happen and there are demonstrations [against the acts]. We are demonstrating on the radio and wherever we can. All we can do is condemn and say that we want to work with the emergency services. We are working with Bedfordshire Police to reduce crime of all sorts including terrorism. We are open and our doors are open. And we want to work with everybody to live the way we do live. Q. As we all are victims, the Muslim community is also a victim of a handful of extremists. Dr Fiaz Hussain: It appears so and all I can say to you is that British Muslims work together with our fellow citizens. We are totally against what took place - it doesn't reflect on what we hold dear. I've grown up in this society and I have friends from all communities and I'm proud to be British. Listen to the reaction of other religious leaders using the links on the right-hand side. Terrorism - wrong in all communities: Read what Dr Fiaz Hussain said in his 2005 New Year message using the link on the right-hand side. | 
