An artist's impression of the London mega-mosque
A planned 10,000-capacity ‘mega mosque’ in East London is
under consideration by city authorities as locals mount a campaign to halt
construction amid fears it will become a hotbed of Islamic extremism.
The gigantic mosque, four times the size of St. Paul’s
Cathedral, will sport towering 40-foot minarets, an Islamic library, sports
facilities and eight apartments.
Planning permission for the place of worship is being
considered by Newham Council, despite controversy and fierce opposition from
the local community, including many Muslims.
The plans were submitted by Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim
missionary movement, which some have described as an ‘antechamber of
fundamentalism’.
Critics claim the Islamic group preaches separatism and
segregation. Two of the July 7, 2005, London bombers – Shehzad Tanweer and
Mohammad Sidique Khan – are believed to have prayed at a Tablighi mosque in
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, before committing their terror attack.
“They teach that if you want to be a good Muslim you must
separate off from non-Muslims…It's only Tablighi Jamaat – of all the Islamic
groups – that has created ghettos over in Toronto, in Canada. They're all
around the world, this is a huge group and wherever they go they create
barriers, hostility, division, they create separatism," Alan Craig,
campaign director of ‘Mega Mosque No Thanks,’ which is actively opposing its
construction, told RT.
If given the go-ahead, the massive mosque could be the
first Sharia-law-controlled area in Britain. Many East Londoners are worried
that flouts Prime Minster David Cameron’s policy of a multicultural Britain
that embraces all ethnic groups.
“The grounds on which they're trying to set-up here in
Britain are anti-British, anti-Western. This is not just going to be a Mosque –
this is going to be a centre of training, where they are going to try to reach
out to Islamist Muslims. To harden up and medieval-ize the Islam of ordinary
Muslims in this country. And I meet so many Muslims, who don't want that,"
journalist and cultural analyst Dr. Jenny Taylor, founder of religious literacy
consulting group Lapido Media, explained to RT.
That view is shared by many Muslims in East London. Asqhar
Bukhari, a spokesperson for the UK branch of the Muslim Public Affairs
Committee, told RT, “Muslims themselves oppose this mosque. Not on the grounds
that, they don't want to worship their God, but on the grounds that women
aren't allowed, the local population, the Muslim population, has no say in how
the mosque itself is governed."
The proposal has sparked intense opposition in the years
since the plans were first submitted in 1999.
In 2001, Tablighi Jamaat agreed worship would only be on a
temporary basis at the site of the proposed mosque. In 2010, Newham Council
issued an enforcement notice, but Tablighi successfully appealed it in 2011 and
now more than 5,000 people worship at the ramshackle site every week.
The plans had initially included a provision for retail
units and 300 houses, which were shelved in place of the mega mosque. The
Muslim community refused to allow their donations to contribute to commercial
businesses.
Newham Council, which received the proposal from Tablighi
on September 5, 2012, issued a statement in response: “We can confirm we have
received a planning application. As this is currently being processed it would
be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
The Mega Mosque No Thanks website contains a checklist for
mobilizing activists, including signing an e-petition on the government’s
website and contacting local MPs.
Craig explained to RT, “If this went ahead it would be like
a tipping point – there will be no stopping fundamentalist Islam. If that
happens – well we'd all need to leave the county."
Tablighi Jamaat maintains that their purpose is peaceful
missionary work. Spokesperson for the group’s charitable trust and site owner
Anjuman-E-Islahul-Muslimeen previously told reporters, “The door is always open
and we are happy to meet and discuss in depth our proposals.”
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