A GROUP of young Muslim women in Pendle are inviting people to 'Discover Islam' at an exhibition on November 29.

The quartet from Nelson and Brierfield have joined forces to create a new organisation called Iqra, meaning 'read' in Arabic, to foster better community relations.

Their first event will introduce people to Islamic contributions to the fields of surgery, medicine, geography, optics and mathematics as part of Islam Awareness Week.

Spokeswoman Halima Bibi, 24, said: "We are all practising Muslim women and we all work in community organisations.

"We go to mosque and with the current climate we thought we needed to actively engage and educate people about Islam.

"When I was at university, we had quite a lot of things going on for Islam Awareness Week but we've found locally there's nothing going on and we felt we should do something for that week.

"It's amazing the response we've got. We only started promoting it this week and the more people we told about it, the more local businesses and young people said they wanted to get involved. It's got bigger and bigger."

The free exhibition will take a whistle-stop tour through the heritage of Islam including Al-Khwarizmi, known as the 'father of algebra', and Abu Ali Muhammad, recognised as the 'father of optics'.

There will also be the opportunity to purchase crafts, jewellery, items of Islamic art and literature from stalls present on the day.

Halima said: "Islam places a great emphasis on education, learning and application of knowledge. It is considered a duty of every Muslim. Unfortunately this message is not given any prominence by the media and social commentators.

"This event is open both to non-Muslims who would like to garner an understanding of the true practical contributions of Islam, as well as Muslims who are not totally aware of the vast positive impact that Islam has had."

Discover Islam will take place at Brierfield Community Centre on November 29 from 1pm to 4pm and then will be on display at Nelson's Ghosia Mosque on November 30.