People “might be intimidated by coming to a mosque. They might have certain prejudices. We’re just here to dispel all that and be welcoming.”
Since opening in the city’s southside in 1998, Edinburgh Central Mosque has served as the de facto focal point for the city’s growing Muslim population, writes Emma Newland.
While its presence may have been welcomed by the vast majority of the local community, a climate of increased anti-Muslim sentiment has at times times seen it, other city mosques and their worshippers targeted.
At the start of the year, graffiti messages including “get out of Scotland” were scrawled on the walls of the mosque. In June, two young men leaving Broomhouse Mosque were stabbed in a series of terror attacks which left the city’s Muslim community “deeply shocked and alarmed”.
So as the Central Mosque prepares to welcome Doors Open Day visitors next weekend (26 and 27 September), as it has ever year for around a decade, it feels different.
Taking part, it says, is “an opportunity to explore the mosque and meet the Muslim community,” with tours of the building, an Islamic exhibition and refreshments.
It usually welcomes about 800 visitors across the weekend, but visits co-ordinator Amin Buxton tells The Edinburgh Inquirer that taking part is now “definitely more important” this year in the current climate.
The open weekend amplifies the mosque’s existing open-door policy, which is to welcome people keen to visit at any time of the year. Many non-Muslims who pass its doors on a regular basis may be curious about crossing the threshold, says Buxton, but don’t know how to do that.
People “might be intimidated by coming to a mosque,” he says. “They might have certain prejudices, and we’re just here to dispel all that, and be welcoming.”
‘So much curiosity’
The main prayer hall faces Mecca and along with adjoining spaces can accommodate up to 1,000 people, while other facilities in the labyrinthine building include a library that serves as a classroom.
The mosque is the result of a £3.5 million investment by Saudi Arabia, taking more than six years to build, and comes after Edinburgh’s first mosque opened in 1969 on Roxburgh Street. Many more have followed suit, including Broomhouse Mosque.
Edinburgh Central Mosque also runs the Islam Festival Edinburgh each August, advertising the event with an invitation to the curious: “Have you ever wanted to visit a mosque? Do you have any burning questions about Islam? Would you like to discover more about a faith which is often misunderstood?”.
But Doors Open Day is the biggest driver of external visitors, says Buxton, a Muslim convert. It “brings us so many people, so much curiosity.”
Scotland’s Doors Open Day initiative, which gives the public access to buildings or parts of buildings normally closed to the public for free, started in 1990, when 44 events took place in Glasgow and Ayr.
Coordinated by the Scottish Civic Trust and part of European Heritage Days, in 2025 there were nearly 160,000 visits to just under 1,000 venues and events. Almost a third of visitors were taking part in Doors Open Day for the first time.
Edinburgh’s participating venues span an eclectic range, including Camera Obscura, a sewage treatment works, medical research facilities, and more than 20 churches.
One other mosque is taking part - the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque on Lauriston Place, which was originally used by the United Presbyterian Church, and opened as a mosque in 2012.
Buxton says Doors Open Day attracts people who are “curious about the history, the building, the culture” rather than the kind of people who show animosity.
Meeting prejudice face to face
“The general rise of the far right is worrying,” says Buxton, seeing that people have become “emboldened” to post hateful comments on social media. “We’d never seen that before - it was a shock.” The Internet also provides a platform to feed people “highly sophisticated” false information, which unfortunately does influence some people, he adds. One regularly expressed fear is that Islam’s Sharia law is going to overtake the UK’s legal system.
With protests both for and against migrants being staged across parts of central Scotland, Buxton believes in the power of face-to-face conversations to break down barriers. “We need to go out to the people who are shouting outside a hotel and have a conversation with them. Those are the people that if we could get through to them, that would be more productive [than initiatives such as Doors Open Day].”
The company that operates Edinburgh Central Mosque said in its accounts filed in December 2025 that it had stepped up its security arrangements due to rising Islamophobia, particularly recent protests by the far right. It also said it was taking part in initiatives such as Doors Open Day to help “dispel misconceptions and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims”.
By joining Doors Open Day, the Central Mosque will be among more than 100 mosques across the UK taking part in the 2026 Visit My Mosque campaign, according to the Muslim Council Of Britain.
Dr Wajid Akhter, the organisation’s secretary general, said: “In the current climate, far too many people are getting their information about British Muslims and their neighbours from an algorithm and foreign-funded billionaires fuelling toxic hate towards faith communities both online and on our streets in Britain. To truly understand who ordinary British Muslims are, what we value and what 6 per cent of the population live like – it has to be experienced, in person, over a cup of tea, tasty samosas and an honest conversation.”
A growing population
The 2022 census found Edinburgh’s Muslim population was 12,000, about 2.3 per cent of the city’s 514,500 or so residents, and has since increased amid an influx of migrants. Edinburgh Central Mosque has seen more arrive from countries including Syria, Sudan, and Afghanistan, says Buxton.
The mosque also sees about three to four conversions a month on average, he adds. He decided to convert aged 19, after a Christian upbringing, but developing an increasing affinity with Islam, including its concept of global community, known as ummah, which unites Muslims around the world. “It transcends race and it transcends place and it transcends time.”
He saw first-hand how the greeting “salam alaikum”, meaning peace be with you, is used “wherever you go in the world”. Islam is “so much about community,” adds Buxton, who is also a chaplain for prisons and Edinburgh and Napier universities.
Ahead of Doors Open Day, what would he say to anyone curious about visiting the mosque, but nervous about coming in? “Don’t feel that you’re going to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing or not feel welcome. It’s a house of God. It’s not just for the people that pray here. It’s for everyone.”
Other Doors Open Day 2026 highlights
‘Believe what you like: a 250-year-old church without a requirement to believe in God’
St. Mark’s Church on Castle Terrace is celebrating 250 years of Unitarianism in Edinburgh next weekend, coinciding with Doors Open Day.
The church’s history stretches back to 1776 and the Universalist Dissenters, who began a radical religious movement challenging the strict Calvinism of the time. It has links to famous Unitarians and associated thinkers including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Burns, Elizabeth Gaskell and Dorothea Dix.
It is celebrating its 250th anniversary with two free public events:
a fun, guided, historical walk through Edinburgh’s former Unitarian meeting places (Sat 26th)
a “craftivism” session for all ages on the theme of ‘Being Good Future Ancestors’ (Sun 27th)
Unitarians are a little-known but remarkably modern faith community, who believe in freedom of thought, so you can believe whatever you like. They welcome people of all faiths and no faith, believing in the power of “deeds, not creeds.”
At a time when many churches are struggling with falling attendance, its congregation has grown by 40% in less than a year under the leadership of new minister, Rev. Janine Sim, a former yoga teacher and therapist.
Granton Castle Walled Garden
The walled garden has stood by the Firth of Forth coast since the turn of the 16th century and today is managed by the community. It is a historic green-space where anyone can volunteer or visit. Enjoy garden history walks and talks at 1:45pm, 2:30pm and 3:15pm starting from the gatehouse and led by one of our longstanding trustees.
Edinburgh Filmhouse
There will be building tours across Saturday and Sunday and projection box tours at 10:30am and 11:30am on both days. Read more about the story of the reopening of this beloved city institution in Opening the doors of Edinburgh Filmhouse.
Out of the Blue Drill Hall
The Out of the Blue Arts & Education Trust is welcoming visitors to explore its A listed home on Saturday 10am-5pm. The former military base has been a thriving centre for the arts since 2004. Read more about its modern history in Nothing but three young women and an idea.
Lothian Buses
Always one of the most popular venues on Doors Open Day, Lothian Buses will be opening its Marine Depot, Seafield Road East, on Saturday at 11am-3pm. There’s a chance to see behind the scenes and admire vintage vehicles as well as a programme of family-friendly activities.
You can browse the full programme here.