Hideously diverse Britain: the mosque that became a symbol

An apology to start because this is a bit complicated. These things often are. We are in Station Road, Harrow, not far from Wembley stadium. People are filing in and out of the local mosque for prayers. It's early evening. Ramadan. Soon they will break the fast.

And as they do, many are still talking about last Friday, when their mosque became the centre of world attention. The BBC was there, CNN, al-Jazeera, the Iranian-funded Press TV. Their mosque, and the one being built next door, was suddenly a focal point for self-styled white warriors against Islamic extremism, anti-fascists and youths in the mood for a punch-up. It became a symbol, which was a shame. The Muslims of Harrow just wanted it to be their mosque.

Mehmood Hussain, busy in his curry takeaway, says Harrow became the stage for someone else's play. "We've seen people come and go but things have always been quite harmonious. That's why, despite a lot of provocation, the community survived."

The new mosque, grand with five storeys, was to be picketed by the English Defence League, which said it would house a Sharia court. It won't. But that didn't matter. When the EDL went cool, another far-right faction, Stop the Islamisation of Europe, said it would demonstrate instead.

It's quiet here now, with a yellow-jacketed security man on duty, but there were 2,000 people here last week. Police were hit by bricks and bottles. Ten people were arrested but only one was a far-righter, mainly because they didn't get much further than the tube station. The others were Asian, mostly Muslim youths. None from Harrow. One white man found himself confronted by youths who said he was BNP or CIA. He sought refuge in the civic centre. He was BBC.

Ajmal Masroor, a London imam who appealed for calm beside the Jewish leader of Harrow Council, says Harrow has closed ranks but is bristling still: at far-righters, at the anti-fascists with "their own agenda", and at the Muslim youths who came looking for "cheap thrills". Everyone came, now everyone has gone. Everyone's diminished. On these days, no one wins.