Warwick University is the venue for what is billed as the UK's first anti-terrorism camp.
'Love is purity'
The 1,300 delegates were listening to Dr Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, an Islamic scholar with a gift for rhetorical flourishes and what he describes as a message of love for mankind.
Talking in simple, slowly delivered sentences, the revivalist Pakistani-born cleric takes his audience of predominantly young British and European Muslims through what love means.
The full argument takes him 15 minutes, but he holds the audience's attention.
"Extremists and terrorists are in the minority in the Muslim ummah [brotherhood]. But they have always been vocal", he says. "The majority have always been against extremism and terrorism, but unfortunately they have always been silent. "The Islamic solution is integration. Get integrated into British society.
"It's not against your religion. Has the word Pakistan been revealed in the Koran? If you can be Pakistani and Muslim, why can you not be Muslim and British?" That anti-extremism message is at the heart of Dr Qadri's worldwide movement and its efforts to rapidly expand in the UK.
Earlier this year, he arrived in London to launch a launch a 600-page fatwa, or religious ruling against terrorism.
The weekend camp, called "The Guidance", was organised to back up that fatwa and has recruited participants from cities across the country.
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It's sad that we have to keep reassuring ourselves and non-muslims that we're simply not terrorists. Differentiating ourselves to reach a bold divide, but I guess it just has to be done.
W'Allahu Ya3lam.
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