Christmas cards at mosque bridge gap

Muslims welcome Christian restaurant owner

A man handed out dozens of Christmas cards at Ashford mosque in a bid to bridge the gap between Christianity and Islam.

Ian Sleeper, who owns the Singleton Tandoori takeaway and restaurant, dished out 100 festive messages just before Christmas.

The Kingsnorth father-of-two initially stood outside but was invited inside the mosque in Torrington Road after being welcomed by the majority of worshippers.

Mr Sleeper, 51, said: “It does make for a good story, bridging Christianity with Islam, especially in this nervous day and age. It went extremely well and although I got a tiny bit of a negative response, the vast majority thought it was a great idea.

“I was a bit apprehensive at first as I was not sure how it would go down, but I ended up being invited in.

“The cards had a traditional Christian Christmas message inside them and only a small minority of people did not accept them.”

Mr Sleeper – who has two teenage children – has owned Singleton Tandoori in Hoxton Close for four years.

He visited the mosque on Friday, December 22, and returned the following day to take photographs of his visit.

Mr Sleeper said: “I employ two Muslims and they are both wonderful people. I invited them for Christmas dinner at my house, but then thought I would go a little bit further and hand out cards at the mosque.

“I had been thinking about it for a long time as I really wanted to do it. I would do it again and I did invite the Imam to come to my church.

“I am a Christian, but apart from that there is no difference and I was pleased to go along to the mosque.”

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