Leeds Grand Mosque

Leeds Grand Mosque
Basic information
Location Leeds, England
Affiliation Islam
Leadership Imam(s):
Sheikh Dr Mohammed Taher
Website www.leedsgrandmosque.com
Architectural description
Architectural type Mosque
Date established 1994
Capacity 1,500+

Leeds Grand Mosque (LGM) is a mosque in Leeds with a Friday congregation of 1,500.[1][2] It is located at 9 Woodsley Road, Hyde Park, Leeds, LS6 1SN West Yorkshire, England. The mosque has a diverse and ethnically mixed congregation with facilities for both male and female worshippers.[1] The Friday prayer sermon is also delivered in English also alongside the Arabic.[2]

The mosque's Imam is Sheikh Dr Mohammed Taher.[3] The resident Islamic scholar to the mosque is Sheikh Abdullah Al Judai’.[3]

It is the home of the first Muslim Scout Group in Leeds.[4] 15 Scouts were invested at the launch in 2006.[5]

Building

It was originally Sacred Heart Church designed by Derek Walker, completed in 1965 and described as "One of the most striking churches to be built in the 1960s".[6] The design is Brutalist based on a concrete frame clad with pre-cast panels of Cornish granite aggregate.[6] It closed in 1993 and was sold and converted in 1994, with funding from Saif Bin Muhammad Al-Nehayyan of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[7] The chancel was converted into a smaller worship hall used on weekdays, and a women's gallery was constructed at the rear of the main hall, later augmented by converting the choir gallery into a second women's gallery. The stained glass window and obvious Christian symbols were of course removed, and facilities for wudu installed.[6]

The main hall provides a large open space which has been used for experiments in human echo-location.[8]

In 2013 a freak storm lifted part of the roof off, resulting in extensive rain damage.[9]

Facilities

Main hall on public open day
  • Male prayer hall
  • Female prayer hall
  • Lecture room
  • Basement - used for multiple activities
  • Library
  • Catering kitchen
  • Management office, storage rooms, and washing facilities for both males and females
  • Fenced car park for 20 cars
  • Gardens around the mosque
  • Linked house, rented as a source of income

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Leeds Grand Mosque Home Page
  2. 1 2 The Times, 24 August 2002 Archived 21 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine."At your service" by Daniel Crewe
  3. 1 2 "LGM team".
  4. ↑ www.cycscouts.org.uk Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. 1st Muslim Scout Group Launches
  5. ↑ Yorkshire Evening Post 5 December 2006 "City gets its first Muslim Scouts"
  6. 1 2 3 John Minnis & Trevor Mitchell (2007) Religion and Place in Leeds (English Heritage) ISBN 978-1-905624-48-5
  7. ↑ History of Leeds Grand Mosque Archived 2011-07-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Waters, D., & Abulala, H. (2001) Proceedings of the 2001 International Conference on Auditory Display, Espoo, Finland, July 29-August 1, 2001, pages 191-196
  9. ↑ Yorkshire Evening Post 7 December 2013 "SOS call at Leeds mosque left exposed by freak storm"

Coordinates: 53°48′24″N 1°34′05″W / 53.80653°N 1.56801°W / 53.80653; -1.56801

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