Members of the Muslim community in Manchester were handing out free roses and chocolate in the city centre today to celebrate the birth of the last prophet of Islam. The event, known as Mawlid in the City, saw close to 1,000 roses handed out to unsuspecting shoppers to mark the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
This was the fifth consecutive year where the Muslim community in Manchester has come together to give out hundreds of free roses, chocolates and cards to the public.
Speaking about the event and its message, organiser Mustafizur Rahman said: "It's to celebrate the birth of our Prophet Muhammad and we're doing that by giving out free roses to the general public, mainly non-Muslims to spread Prophet Muhammad's message.
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"One of the key messages is about his lasting sermon which is about how everybody is equal no matter what race or background they are from. This is our fifth year doing it in Manchester and it's been a huge success.
"We chose to hand out a rose because it's seen as a form of beauty and a gift that someone is not going to deny. They'll always want to take a rose even if it's not for themselves they'll take it for their partner."
A global event, Mawlid in the City is also being held as far as Trinidad and Tobago and Malaysia. Roses were also handed out in Rochdale town centre as part of the event.
This year's is the 11th instalment of the project which was created by a grassroots organisation As-Siraat. Based in Birmingham, the group created the event to combat the negative media bias towards Muslims.
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