More than 90 mosques across Great Britain opened to the public on Sunday in an effort to allow Muslims to "explain their faith beyond the hostile headlines," BBC.com reports.

The Muslim Council of Britain said its goal for Visit My Mosque Day was to show unity in "a tense time for faith communities," the BBC reported.

Three times as many mosques took part in the event as did so a year ago. There are 3 million Muslims and about 1,750 mosques in the United Kingdom. Muslims represent about five percent of the population.

Amid fears of Muslim extremism, anti-Muslim attacks have increased in Great Britain. The open houses at mosques were held one day after a silent marc in Birmingham on Saturday, attended by fewer than 200 people.

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