Birmingham Central Mosque

Birmingham Central Mosque
Birmingham Central Mosque
Basic information
Location Highgate, Birmingham, England
Affiliation hanifi[1]
Website www.centralmosque.org.uk/
Specifications
Dome(s) 1
Minaret(s) 2

Birmingham Central Mosque, is a mosque in the Highgate area of Birmingham, England, run by the Birmingham Mosque Trust. The organization, 'Muslims in Britain'[2] classify the Birmingham Central Mosque as, Deobandi.[1] The mosque has a capacity of 6,000, including women.[1] The mosque provides a Sharia Council which in 2016 handled 400 requests for divorce.[3]

History

Birmingham Central Mosque is one of the earliest purpose-built mosques in the United Kingdom. After initially raising money to lay the foundations of the mosque, funds ran dry. A possibility existed that Birmingham City Council would sell the land to another buyer if the mosque was not completed within two years. The mosque trustees therefore went to local businesses ― both Muslim and non-Muslim ― for donations. Soon enough, sufficient money was raised to pay for the building and completion of the mosque in 1969. The mosque was then officially opened in 1975. A golden dome was added to the top of the minaret in 1981.[4] In 1986, the mosque sought and was granted permission to call prayer within certain limits.[5] Between 1988 and 1990, Al-Hijrah School educated children in three rented rooms within the mosque before moving to Midland House in Small Heath.[6]

In 2006, the West Midlands Fire Service put out a fire in the mosque. A fire began in an office in the building. It did not spread far, yet it caused damage to electronics and also destroyed paperwork.[7]

In December 2011 a man was arrested after making a Facebook threat to bomb the mosque.[8]

Following a protest by the English Defence League (EDL) in April 2017, the Birmingham Central Mosque held a tea party with the goal of countering those demonstrations and promoting interfaith dialogue. The tea party ended up receiving more participants than the original EDL march.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Birmingham Central Mosque". Muslims in Britain. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. "Muslims In Britain".
  3. Bone, Amra (2 March 2017). "Inside Britain's sharia councils: hardline and anti-women – or a dignified way to divorce?". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  4. Panikos Panayi (1999). The Impact of Immigration in Post-war Britain: A Documentary History of the Effects and Experiences of Immigrants in Britain since 1945. Manchester University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-7190-4685-8.
  5. W. A. R. Shadid (1995). Religious Freedom and the Position of Islam in Western Europe. Peters Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 90-390-0065-4.
  6. "History of Al-Hijrah". Al-Hijrah. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  7. "Arsonists set fire to city mosque". BBC News. 2006-01-07. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  8. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/12/12/man-arrested-after-facebook-threat-to-bomb-birmingham-mosque-115875-23630089/
  9. York, Chris (8 April 2017). "EDL Birmingham Demo Countered By Mosque Tea Party". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
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