THOUSANDS visited Walthamstow Assembly Hall for a colourful celebration to mark the 1,428th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
Waltham Forest Mayor Liaqat Ali was among the guests at the lavish occasion, which included prayer reading and performances by Muslim bands.
His Excellency Shaykh Muhammad Hisham al-Kabbani of the USA, who is the world head of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order, was among other guests.
Cllr Ali said: "This occasion has made me proud to be a Muslim and to be the mayor of Waltham Forest."
He added: "I am proud to be here and to meet such lovely people.
"It is important that we have events like this to know about the Prophet's message of peace, which certainly needs to be taken out to the masses."
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Shaykh Ahmad Babikir al-Sudani, a teacher at ex-pop singer Cat Stevens' Islamic School in London, also said the festival provided a message of peace.
Rafiq Ahmad, head of the Muslim Youth Forum in Walthamstow, said the event had been a huge success.
He added: "The event has helped to serve the community by taking youth who would have been loitering on the streets and giving solace to the spiritual gathering."
The festival of Mawlid al-Rasul, the birth of the messenger Muhammad, falls on the 12th day of the Islamic lunar month of Rabi al-Awwal.
It is celebrated throughout the Islamic world and is a national holiday in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Somalia, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Sudan, among other countries.
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