| NEW MOSQUE REFLECTS
CHANGES IN BRITIAN'S RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE |
By DON MELVIN |
LONDON — Visitors to the 2012 Olympic
Games in London may see rising before them, in addition to ancient
churches like St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, a new landmark
reflecting 21st Century Britain — a massive mosque capable
of accommodating 40,000 worshippers.
If all goes according to plan, the Abbey Mills Islamic Center, a
huge complex with an unusual, sweeping design, would open in time
for the Games, 500 yards from the Olympic village in East London.
The mosque would be Western Europe's largest — and a fitting
reflection, some Islamic leaders say, of the religious diversity
of modern Britain. With attendance in Christian churches in decline
and Britain's Muslim population on the increase, Islam has assumed
greater prominence in the country.
"Islam is actually the
most practiced religion in Britain," said Massoud Shadjareh,
chairman of the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Construction of the mosque is being proposed by Tablighi Jamaat,
a conservative Islamic organization with roots in Pakistan. The mosque
and surrounding Islamic center, with a school, library, exhibition
spaces and restaurants, would cost an estimated $175 million to build.
The proposal has provoked a range of reactions, from joy at London's
multicultural richness to concerns over creating a recruiting ground
for terrorism.
"We pride ourselves on the multicultural
and multi-religious aspects of our society," Shadjareh said.
"I don't see any reason for the community to fear this group."
But the Asia-Pacific Foundation, a London-based policy assessment
organization, takes a darker view. In a report on Tablighi Jamaat,
the organization's chief executive, M.J. Gohel, said that a variety
of people who have passed through the organization's mosques have
gone on to commit terrorist acts, including Mohammad Siddique Khan,
one of the suicide attackers in the deadly London transport bombings
in July.
"Tablighi involvement in future terrorist activities
at home and abroad is not a matter of conjecture; it is a tragic
and definite certainty," Gohel said.
Abdul Khalique, a project manager for Tablighi Jamaat, said it is
inevitable that a large organization will attract all kinds of people.
But he denied any links between Tablighi Jamaat and terrorism; there
are, he said, "none whatsoever."
"People who don't
understand will always make stories," he said.
Instead, he said, the proposed complex is being designed to build
bridges — to entice non-Muslims to use it, to mingle, to debate
and to gain understanding. "Obviously, this complex is not only
for the Muslim community," he said.
The mosque would be by far the largest house of worship in Britain.
The largest currently is the Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden, South
London, which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. The largest Christian
church is the Anglican cathedral in Liverpool, which holds 3,000.
Arun Kataria, a spokesman for the Church of England, disputed the
contention that Islam is now the most practiced religion in Britain.
He cited figures showing that 1.7 million Britons visit an Anglican
church during the course of a month — a figure larger than
the entire Muslim population of Britain.
The country's Muslim population is about 1.6 million. Other studies
have shown that weekly attendance in Anglican churches has plunged
below 1 million.
There is little dispute that the percentage of British Muslims who
worship in mosques is much greater than the percentage of Christians
who go to church.
Hinduism is also growing in Britain.
Greater London is home to about 50 Hindu temples, including the Shri
Swaminarayan Mandir, the first traditional Hindu temple built outside
of India in more than 800 years.
The temple, which opened in 1995, and adjoining prayer hall can accommodate
more than 2,500 people. On each of the two holiest days of the year,
50,000 people pass through the temple doors, said spokesman Yogesh
Patel.
Hindus have become more observant in recent years, he said, prompted
by disasters, poverty and the war on terrorism. "People look
for peace and answers to the questions that they may have. And they
find them," he said.
Likewise, Islamic leaders say that, as Christian practice is on the
decline, Muslims are becoming more spiritual.
This includes people like Mohamed Nasser Khan, 46, a successful property
developer in London. He was born in Tanzania to parents who were
both originally from the Indian subcontinent.
When the family moved to Britain in 1967, Khan's parents, like many
Asians who relocated at that time, were preoccupied with establishing
themselves and making a living. Khan, like many children, was preoccupied
with becoming accepted in his new country.
But later he began asking himself questions, "basic things which
everybody asks himself," he said. "What am I doing here?
What is the meaning of life?"
In the late 1980s, he read a book by the founder of the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community and his life changed. While continuing his career
as a property developer, he is now also the vice president of the
British branch of the organization — a sect that preaches harmony
and which contends it suffers bigotry at the hands of more hard-line
Muslim organizations.
He was involved in the construction of the Baitul Futuh mosque, which
opened in 2003. It will soon be supplanted as Western Europe's largest
mosque by the East London Mosque, which is expanding. That, in turn,
would be supplanted by the mosque planned by Tablighi Jamaat.
Khan is not surprised at the need for such a large new mosque in
London. Anyone who goes into various houses of worship can see that
Islam is the country's most practiced religion, he said.
"There
is no contradiction between being a Muslim and a Western way of life,"
said Khan, who wears a business suit. "People should be confident
that you can be Muslim and British. You can be a Muslim and still
eat fish and chips."
Yet he has concerns about the proposed new mosque because of its
large price tag. The government of another country would likely donate
that kind of money, he said, adding, "The people who fund these
mosques control the reins."
Khalique, the project manager for Tablighi Jamaat, was vague on where
the money would come from, saying only that the organization would
attempt to raise money worldwide.
Ali Mangera, the architect who is designing the proposed new mosque,
said it is based on historic Islamic architecture and Islamic gardens,
in which the landscape and the internal spaces are merged.
The complex, he said is based on the concept of "dawat"
— Arabic for "invitation."
"We see it as
an inclusive project," he said. "It's not solely a mosque.
We are trying to break down barriers. It's a multicultural city,
after all." |
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