Darnall mosque window smashed in suspected hate crime just months after break-in cost £10,000

Jamia Abdullah Bin Masood, off Staniforth Road, Darnall, has been subjected to vandalism after a first floor window was found smashed this morning. It is thought the window was smashed at some time between 5pm on March 19, and 7am on March 20 when the building was empty.

The window will cost an estimated £200 to replace, and comes just three months after the mosque suffered up to £10,000 worth of damage during a break-in over the Christmas period. The incident saw extensive damage to the mosque, as well as holy books thrown to the floor and their pages ripped, and a number of electrical items stolen from the premises.

Jamia Abdullah Bin Masood, a registered charity which also runs a food bank for people across Sheffield, is currently in the process of installing CCTV.

Imam Mohammed Shafiq said the mosque has suffered from two “minor” break-ins in past years, but thinks the last two incidents are acts of a “hate crime”, and have left the Muslim community feeling unsafe to enter the place of worship.

Mr Shafiq said: “It’s affecting our organisation and affecting our children, they don’t feel safe. Since the last incident we’ve tried to invest in an alarm system and cameras - it’s really impacted our place. People are scared to come, it’s very, very sad. Someone is purposely doing this to damage our place, and damage our reputation in the area.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson has confirmed officers are investigating reports of an attempted burglary at the mosque. They added that an investigation into the break-in in December 2022 is still on-going and “officers and continuing their efforts to find those responsible”.