Imam awarded OBE for heroic response to Finsbury Park mosque attack

A hero imam who jumped to the defence of the Finsbury Park terror attacker, moments after he ploughed his van into worshippers has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Imam Mohammed Mahmoud, who is now based at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, was made OBE for services to the […]

A hero imam who jumped to the defence of the Finsbury Park terror attacker, moments after he ploughed his van into worshippers has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Imam Mohammed Mahmoud, who is now based at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, was made OBE for services to the community.

He was awarded the honour by Prince William at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. In the immediate aftermath of the Finsbury Park attack in June 2017, Imam Mahmoud protected far-right attacker Darren Osborne who had driven a van into a packed pavement of Muslim worshippers.

Speaking to ITV News after receiving the honour on Thursday, he said he has never accepted the term ‘hero’, but was “humbled” to receive the award. “Heroes are those who go beyond the line of duty, whereas what I did on that night, with a group of other congregants from our mosque, was not extraordinary,” the imam said.

“It was our duty to de-escalate the situation and to calm people down and to bring people to their senses and that thankfully is what happened.” The mosque attack on June 19 killed 51-year-old Makram Ali, and injured nine others, but the imam received global attention when he shielded Osborne from angry worshippers. Imam Mahmoud kept the crowd from hurting Osborne by standing in front of him until police arrived. Video from the scene shows Osborne being protected by the imam who pushes the crowd back.