Hundreds celebrate life of Prophet Muhammad at Peterborough Peace Parade

The annual Peace Parade, which took place on Sunday, saw more than 1,000 worshippers taking part in the procession from Alderman’s Drive to the Faizen e Madina Mosque in Gladstone Street. Many people taking part in the parade wore traditional dress, with some carrying signs and banners.

Local dignitaries, including Peterborough and Cambridgeshire police and crime Commissioner Jason Ablewhite, Mayor of Peterborough cllr Gul Nawaz joined in the procession. Residents lined the parade route, offering refreshments to people taking part. Once they arrives at the Mosque, there were speeches and other activities. Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar of Bolton and Shaykh Riaz Ahmed of Blackburn presided over the event, which along with being a celebration of Muhammad’s birth is also a memorial to Peterboprough community leader Shaykh Sufi Mohammed Yousaf, who founded the first parade in 1981, and was one of the organisers of the event until his death last year. Mohammed Avais, one of the organisers of this year’s event and the son of Mr Yousaf, said: “It was a wonderful event attended by hundreds of locals and special guests from across the country with a vibrant atmosphere and lovely weather to celebrate the diversity and community harmony in Peterborough. “Scholars talked about the life of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and paid tribute to the life and works of Grand Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Aslam who came to the UK in 1963 and was founder of the Aslamiya Foundation, and popular local Peterborough personality Shaykh Sufi Mohammed Yousaf, who started this event in 1981 and sadly passed away last year.”