Lakemba Mosque

Lakemba Mosque
Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib[1]
Basic information
Location Lakemba (Sydney), New South Wales, Australia
Geographic coordinates 33°54′45″S 151°04′27″E / 33.912589°S 151.074074°E / -33.912589; 151.074074Coordinates: 33°54′45″S 151°04′27″E / 33.912589°S 151.074074°E / -33.912589; 151.074074
Affiliation Sunni Islam
Status Active
Leadership Shaykh Yahya Safi (Imam)
Website Lakemba Mosque
Architectural description
Architectural type Mosque
Founder Lebanese Muslim Association
Completed 1977
Lakemba Mosque under construction in the 1970s

Lakemba Mosque (also known as Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib)[1] is reportedly Australia's largest mosque.[2]

Lakemba Mosque was the first purpose-built mosque in Sydney and is located in the suburb of Lakemba, Sydney. The mosque is owned and managed by the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA).[3] Lakemba Mosque and the LMA offices are located contiguously on Wangee Road, Lakemba.

History

A small house on the current site of Lakemba Mosque was purchased and used by the Lebanese Muslim Association from the 1960s as a place of worship. The house was demolished in the early 1970s and construction of the current building commenced. Construction lasted five years, with the mosque being completed in 1977.[4] The opening of the mosque was attended by the former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Fundraising for the mosque took place both locally and internationally, with about half the funds coming from the Middle East and the largest single donation coming from the Saudi royal family.[5] Lakemba Mosque was the second purpose-built mosque in Sydney and remains arguably Australia's most well-known and important mosque.

While historically Muslims of Lebanese heritage constituted the majority of the congregation, today people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Somali and South-East Asian backgrounds are also of significant numbers, along with a small but growing number of converts. The overwhelming majority of the congregation is either of Hanafi or Shafi'i background.

Since 2014, the mosque has served as the centre of the National Mosque Open Day event.

Mosque personnel

Lakemba Mosque has a number of staff who assist in the running and maintenance of the mosque.

Currently the mosque has three official Imams:

  • The Imam of Lakemba Mosque is Shaykh Yahya Safi, who worked as an Imam in Lebanon before his appointment at the Lakemba Mosque in 1996.[6] Shaykh Yahya gives the khutbah every fortnight, unless there is a visiting Shaykh from overseas.
  • The assistant Imam as of 2016 is Shaykh Mohammed Gomaa from Egypt. Shaykh Gomaa is a bilingual Imam who was trained at Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar University. He specialises in Qur'anic Commentary and alternates in giving the Friday sermon each fortnight.
  • The deputy assistant Imam, as of 2015, is Shaykh Mohamed Harby. Shaykh Mohamed is a qāriʾ from Egypt who specialises in the sciences of Qur'an which he teaches at an advanced level to students at the Lebanese Muslim Association.

Due its influence and significance, the mosque regularly hosts and is a first stop for visiting Islamic scholars from overseas.

The mosque and its operations are overseen by a committee.

Activities

The mosque offers a number of religious classes, such as in Prophetic biography, Fiqh and Aqidah. The mosque gives a platform to a number of local Shaykhs to speak and teach, such as Shaykh Wesam Charkawi.[7][8]

Several thousand worshippers normally attend weekly prayers on Fridays.[9] In 2015 around 30,000 worshippers attended Eid prayers at the mosque and in the road outside, making it one of Australia's largest eid celebrations.[10] In 2016, an estimated 40,000-50,000 attended Eid prayers.[11][12][13][14][15]

Controversies

In February 2009, a Sydney Morning Herald journalist was ejected from the Lakemba mosque and the newspaper later reported that Anwar al-Awlaki spoke via phone link. A director of the mosque said that Shady Alsuleiman was in charge of organising evening youth events at the time of the sermon.[16]

There was controversy in late 2012 after Shaykh Safi told the congregation, during prayers, that they should not take part in anything to do with Christmas. A fatwa warned that, "disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path". The Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, said these views did not represent the majority of Muslims in Australia.[17] Keysar Trad, former director[18] and president[19] of the LMA, said they previously greeted people with merry Christmas, "I don't know what has changed."[17]

Clive Williams, adjunct professor at Macquarie University's Centre for Policing, Intelligence & Counter Terrorism says that Shia muslims are not welcomed at the mosque.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ali ben Abi Taleb Mosque Lakemba - The Dictionary of Sydney". Dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Lakemba, Australia's unofficial Muslim capital, is between two worlds". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Mosques and Prayer Halls". Islamic Council of NSW. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
  4. ↑ The Lebanese Muslims Association: Sheikhs retrieved 2007-01-26
  5. ↑ "Mosques hooked on foreign cash lifelines". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 November 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Shaykh Yahya Safi Biography retrieved 2007-02-02 Archived 23 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Mercer, Phil (27 October 2014). "How anti-Muslim sentiment hit one Australian". Bbc.com. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Unity to Flow Through Open Doors of Nation's Mosques". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Miranda Devine Spends a Day at Lakemba Mosque". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Kidd, Jessica (17 July 2015). "Muslims gather to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, feast to mark end of Ramadan". Abc.net.au.
  11. ↑ "Calls for unity as 40,000 Australian Muslims mark end of Ramadan at Lakemba Mosque". Sbs.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "50,000 Muslims have lined streets in Lakemba to celebrate Ramadan end". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "Muslim Leader Calls Out Rise of Far Right Political Parties as Thousands Mark End of Ramadan at Lakemba". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Thousands of Worshippers Attend Lakemba Mosque to Mark the End of Ramadan". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Premier Mike Baird's Backing for Besieged Islamic Community". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  16. ↑ Jensen, Erik (15 April 2010). "Al-Qaeda at city mosque". Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. 1 2 O'Brien, Natalie; Olding, Rachel (23 December 2012). "Lakemba Mosque removes Christmas 'fatwa' post". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Islam's man of a million comments". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 2002. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Muslims to stand in federal poll". The Age. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Williams, Clive (20 March 2015). "Ancient religious war at root of contemporary conflict in the Middle East". The Age. Retrieved 19 April 2016.

Sources

  • Andrew Wilkie (1 Sep 2010). Axis of Deceit: The Extraordinary Story of an Australian Whistleblower. Black Inc. p. 130. ISBN 9781921825699.
  • Jackson, Richard; Murphy, Eamon; Poynting, Scott, eds. (10 Sep 2009). Contemporary State Terrorism: Theory and Practice. Routledge. p. 181. ISBN 9781135245160.
  • McKeith, Sam (31 October 2015). "Public Welcomed Into Australia's Mosque Open Day". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "Australian Mosque Posts Facebook 'Fatwa' on Christmas…Then Takes It Down". Theblaze.com. 25 December 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "Christmas message written above mosque". Couriermail.com.au. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "Christmas wish appears in sky over mosque". Abc.net.au. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "50,000 Muslims have lined streets in Lakemba to celebrate Ramadan end". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • Olding, Natalie O'Brien and Rachel (23 December 2012). "Lakemba Mosque removes Christmas 'fatwa' post". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "Weekends broadcast at the Lakemba Mosque". Abc.net.au. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  • "Melbourne Terror Attack Shorten Halfhearted in Calling Out Islamists". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2018.

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