EastEnders

Men pray outside Whitechapel mosque in east London during Friday prayers.
Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian

There have been reports in the press that the new set of the BBC soap EastEnders may include a mosque in an attempt at a "more authentic representation" of communities in East London.

The East London Mosque in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, reportedly where a London schoolgirl who recruited three of her classmates to join IS in Syria was radicalised, serves Great Britain's largest Muslim community with a capacity of 7,000. 

If the producers of EastEnders want an authentic representation, the set will have to be of considerable proportions. The cash strapped BBC could save a lot of money by showing Muslims praying in the street while using the front of a Mosque as a backdrop. Read about the authenticity of this scenario here. The BBC could use the money saved to include a closed Christian church, the fate of many while Islam is being promoted. 

From the Guardian report: "Last year, the character Tamwar Masood quoted the Qur’an in an attempt to explain Islam to his girlfriend Nancy Carter. 'Do good to relatives, orphans, the needy, the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, to the companion at your side and to the traveller,' he said." 

No mention of convert, pay the tax or die as regularly witnessed around the world where Islam dominates.