Holy Fish!

London - Muslim worshippers are flocking to see a pair of fish in the British city of Liverpool which appear to bear the words "Allah" and "Muhammad", said their owner on Monday.

Ali Al-Waqedi, 23, who hailed the coloured Oscar fish as a "message from God", said he had lent them to a friend whose house was close to the local mosque so that worshippers could visit more easily.

"I would say at least 100 people have been there since I bought the fish last week."

Sheikh Sadek Kassem, imam of Liverpool's Al-Rahma Mosque, said: "This is a proof and a sign not just to Muslims, but for everyone."

He quoted a passage from the Qur'an which suggested Allah would send signs.

It reads: "Soon we will show them our signs in the regions, and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth."

Waqedi said he went into a local pet shop to show his children the animals, but he had not been planning to buy anything.

"We started to have a look at the Oscar fish because they had such an unusual colour.

'It was unbelievable'

Then I saw that one of them had the word Allah. It was so clear, and it made me very happy," he said.

"Then we saw that another one had the word Muhammad, and that was even better.

"To see the Allah fish was exciting, but to have the Allah and Muhammad fish in the same tank was unbelievable."

Allah is the word for God in Arabic and Muhammad is the prophet who received the word of God, the Qur'an, through the angel Gabriel.

"I believe it is a message from Allah to me, a reminder, and it makes my faith even stronger," Waqedi said.