Parents have been asked to keep a closer eye on children attending evening prayers during Ramadan.

Each night Taraweeh prayers take place in mosques and can last up to an hour and half. In a damning message one concerned resident says children are ‘smoking or rolling a joint’ and some adults are using the excuse of prayers ‘to go and paint the town red.’ It also says this is ‘a sickness within the Muslim community in and around every mosque’.

In the message the resident of the Corporation area of Blackburn says: “If you're sending your children for Isha and Taraweeh prayers at the Mosque, then you need to be aware that a lot of children are influenced by their peers to take time out after the first 2 to 4 rakaats and hang about outside.

“Sometimes these outings may see them popping in and out of the Mosque 4 to 5 times to stand outside and accompany teens going about their bad habits (smoking or rolling a joint).”

There are accusations that people are attending shisha cafes and snooker clubs which are clearly closed during Covid restrictions.

The message adds: “Sometimes they venture further a field and play 'knock and run' annoying nearby neighbours, other times they go as far as a chippy, shisha cafe, snooker clubs or back alley and spend time hanging about with undesirables.

“Whatever they get up to, they are careful to return and join the congregation to complete the last two rakaats of Taraweeh prayer, as though they were never missing.

“These practices occur every single year and they've been ongoing for decades. What starts as a simple excuse of going for a drink of water due to the Masjid heating being turned up to the max to appease elders, ends up seducing our children to other activities that make them think they're being cool, dodging prayers and hanging out with their mates.

“As parents, we need to get a grip of this unwanted behaviour.”

The message then asks the women of the house to find out where their husbands and dads are who are also taking part in this.

“Sadly, some father's/husband's are in on it too, thinking that they're still in their teens and setting off alone from their homes telling their better halves that they're going to the Masjid for Taraweeh, and along the way they form a group with like-minded others and choose to go and paint the town red.”

The writer does not tell us exactly where the adults are going to ‘paint the town red’ as the nightclubs are closed and have been for over a year.

The message adds: “On these occasions the children naturally pick up and emulate the behaviours exhibited by their fathers (lying to loved ones, dodging prayers, engaging in activities that they shouldn't be doing) all in the holy month of Ramadan.

“I'm not going to name any names, but I am going to request the sisters to keep an eye on where their loved ones are.”

The resident then says he witnessed teenagers in his own street, “I was out driving last night, down Dukes Brow and at the crossroads with Granville Road to my right, I could see a group of young lads dressed in their shalwar kameez/Jubbah's, walking along the street, laughing and joking, one of them smoking and collectively they were missing the prayers they probably made their mum's believe they were attending.

“This is a sickness within the Muslim community in and around EVERY Masjid/Mosque and as responsible parents we need to stamp it out completely.”