A man who was knifed after prayers at the mosque, only realised he had been stabbed when he got home and saw his intestines hanging out.

The victim, in his 30s, was walking back from Qur’ani Murkuz Trust in Mulberry Way, South Woodford and was attacked by two teens after he refused to give them cigarettes.

Saqib Khan has been going to the victim’s mosque for 18 years and warned residents of all religions “not to be complacent” walking in the area.

“You feel quite safe walking around Wanstead and you can get complacent,” he said.

“I personally let my guard down as well but local residents need to be vigilant.

“We can’t bury our head in the sand about what is happening.”

Mr Khan said the victim was physically and emotionally shocked by the attack and only realised the severity of his injury when he unzipped his coat.

“He was followed by a group of men and got punched, but that is all he thought had happened,” he added.

“When he took his zip down he saw lots of blood and his intestines hanging out – it was quite a traumatic thing.”

Although Mr Khan “hopes to God” that the attack was not religiously motivated he said that incidents of this kind are on the rise.

“It has gone from unheard of to hearing about it all the time,” he said.

“It seems to mostly be confined to verbal, but since the EU referendum I have heard of six different attacks.”

Whether the attack what random or had a more sinister motive behind it Mr Khan was incredibly shocked that it happened.

Vaseem Ahmed, Redbridge chair of Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), told the Recorder that in the last few years people have been killed travelling to mosques.

“It’s an easy target coming back from the mosque and in the current climate it wouldn’t surprise me if it was religiously motivated,” he said.

“Islamophobia in Redbridge has risen by 80 per cent and we are setting up a working group to tackle this.”

There have been no arrests and inquiries continue.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or Crimestopers on 0800555111