An Islamic cleric who was US President George W Bush's right-hand man after the September 11 terrorist attacks, drew a massive crowd for a lecture in Bradford last night.

A diverse multi-cultural crowd of almost 1,500 people packed into the Alhambra theatre to listen to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson, one of the West's most renowned and influential scholars.

Called Islam and the West: A Journey of Discovery, the evening was organised by the Ishan Foundation, in Manningham Lane, Bradford, to help boost community cohesion.

The aims of his speech, which lasted for more than an hour and a half, were to explode the myths surrounding Islam, to promote proactive dialogue between Muslims and wider communities, build trust and confidence between communities and pave a way for future events to lead towards harmonisation.

Mr Yusuf, a Muslim convert from California, said society should look at the past to see how far it had come and to use that to create a harmonious society for its children.

He urged people in Bradford to be proud of their roots and their history, and to learn from the knowledge of other civilisations.

"We are living at a time which the philosophers and prophets could only dream of," he said.

"We are now trying to create a society where people are not judged by their culture, where they are all treated in the same way, irrespective of their race, creed or colour.

"This is common knowledge now and we cannot allow barbaric behaviour.

"We owe it to all the people of the past to honour what we have and to share it with the rest of the world."

Last February the Telegraph & Argus reported how more than 1,000 people crowded into the Jamiyat Masjit mosque, in Barkerend Road, Barkerend, with a further 5,000 listening to his speech on speakers outside.

Mr Yusuf, who has studied in Morocco, Italy and the Middle East, is now on a three-week tour of the UK.

Tonight he will be one of the guests on BBC1's Question Time.

l The event began with a heart-felt plea by cancer sufferer Zahier Kazmi for a bone marrow donor.

The 23-year-old needs a perfect bone marrow or blood stem match to cure him of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a rare cancer that affects the lymph nodes.

A clinic to boost numbers on the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust's donor register will be held on Saturday, May 1, at the Karmand Community Centre, Barkerend Road, Barkerend, from 1pm to 3pm.