The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East.Religion in England and Wales 2011 Office for National Statistics Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accommodating more than 7,000 worshippers for congregational prayers. The mosque was one of the first in the UK to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan.
Building details Construction of the three-storey East London Mosque began in 1982 on land left empty after bombing during World War II, and was completed in 1985. The architect was John Gill Associates. The exterior is a distinctive brick pattern in two colours, with the front facing Whitechapel Road and the rear on Fieldgate Street. The mosque is capped with a golden dome of about 8.5m diameter. The minaret rises to about 28.5m above ground level, and the main entrance is finished with two smaller copies of the minaret. The mosque has two large halls, a gallery, classrooms, offices and a retail unit.
Construction for phase 1 of the mosque's expansion, called the London Muslim Centre, began in 2002 and was completed in 2004. Adjoining and connected to the mosque, it is a six-storey building with a prominent entrance featuring a sweeping mosaic pattern. The centre has two multipurpose halls, a seminar suite, a nursery, classrooms, a fitness centre, a small Islamic library, a radio station, retail units and offices. It was designed by Markland Klaschka Limited.Project page for the London Muslim Centre Markland Klaschka Limited
In 2009 phase 2 commenced,Phase 2 East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre a nine-storey addition on the Fieldgate Street side to be known as the Maryam Centre, on a site originally used by the mosque's funeral services,The East London Mosque: 100 years of co-operation BBC London designed by the same architect.East London Mosque Phase 2 Studio Klaschka Ltd The Maryam Centre opened to the public on 4 July 2013, adding a new main prayer hall, improved funeral services, a visitor centre, and over five floors of facilities for women including prayer spaces, education facilities, a fitness centre, and support services.
History
1910–1939: The London Mosque Fund At the beginning of the 20th century, London was the capital of the extensive British Empire, which contained many millions of Muslims, but had no mosque for Muslim residents or visitors. On 9 November 1910, at a meeting of Muslims and non-Muslims at the Ritz Hotel, the London Mosque Fund was established with the aims of organising weekly Friday prayers and providing a permanent place of worship for Muslims in London.
People associated with the London Mosque Fund over the years include:The Times, 2 August 1941 Syed Ameer Ali, the first Indian Privy Counsellor, was the Chairman of the Fund's executive committee until his death in 1928 Sir Hassan Suhrawardy also served as the Chairman of the executive committee The Aga Khan III served as life president of the board of trustees Both Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, translators of the Quran, were trustees of the FundKhizar Humayun Ansari, "Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (1872–1953)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2012; online edn, Jan 2013 accessed 6 February 2020 Nathan Rothschild served as a trustee Lord Lamington became Vice-Chairman Historian T. W. Arnold became its secretary, and was later replaced by Sir Ernest Houston Sir John Woodhead became its treasurer The Earl Winterton was also a trustee of the FundHistory of East London Mosque East London Mosque & London Muslim CentreVisit the City – East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre City of London
1940–1974: The original East London Mosque From 1910 to 1940 various rooms had been hired for Jumu'ah prayers on Fridays. Finally, in 1940, three houses were purchased at 446–448 Commercial Road in the east end of London as a permanent place of prayer. On 2 August 1941 the combined houses were inaugurated as the 'East London Mosque and Islamic Culture Centre' at a ceremony attended by the Egyptian Ambassador, Colonel Sir Gordon Neal (representing the Secretary of State for India). The first prayer was led by the Ambassador for Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Hafiz Wahba. The number of East Pakistanis in Britain, one of the largest Muslim ethnic groups in the country, rose from 2,000 in 1951 to 6,000 in 1961. The increase was due mainly to immigration from the small towns of Sylhet division, in what became Bangladesh in 1971. During the 1970s, the Bangladeshi-origin population in Britain grew from 22,000 to 65,000.
1975–1984: Preparing for a purpose-built mosque In 1975 the local authority bought the properties in Commercial Road under a compulsory purchase order, in return providing a site with temporary buildings on Whitechapel Road next to the Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue. The local community set about raising funds to erect a purpose-built mosque on the site. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia donated £1.1 million of the £2 million fund, and the governments of Kuwait and Britain also donated to the fund. Seven years later, the building of the new mosque commenced, with foundations laid in 1982 and construction completed in 1985.
1985–2000: The new East London Mosque It was one of the first mosques in the United Kingdom to broadcast the adhan (call to prayer) from the minaret using loudspeakers. Some local non-Muslim residents protested it as noise pollution, leading to coverage by the Daily Mail and the Daily Star; in response, local Church of England clerics gave their support for the adhan in a letter to the East London Advertiser. It had a capacity of 2,000, with prayer areas for men and women, and classroom space for supplementary education. However, by the 1990s the capacity was already insufficient for the growing congregation and for the range of projects based there. The land next to the mosque had been left vacant after bomb damage during World War II, and was used as a car park. Under the leadership of chairman Haji Akbor Ali, the mosque launched a campaign to buy the land; the purchase was completed in 1999.East London Advertiser, 2 December 1999
2001–2008: The London Muslim Centre
In 2001 Prince Charles launched the project to build the London Muslim Centre (LMC).Prince joins Ramadan ceremony BBC website Construction began in 2002, and the new centre opened on 11 June 2004, with over 15,000 people attending the opening prayers.Crowds flock to new Muslim centre BBC websiteNew Muslim centre opens its doors BBC website The prayer capacity of the mosque and centre rose to about 5,000, with a greatly increased range of services. The building cost £10.4 million, funding was provided by the London Development Agency, European Development Fund, London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Sure Start. Around £4 million was donated by members of the public.Annual Report 2005-06 . East London Mosque Trust Ltd. Retrieved on 2015-02-18
On the opening day Sheikh Abdur Rahman Al-Sudais, Imam of the Great Mosque of Mecca, led the Friday prayer. Amongst the guests were Racial Equality Minister Fiona Mactaggart, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips and senior officials from the Muslim Council of Britain. Prince Charles, who was in Washington for the funeral of former US president Ronald Reagan, sent a video message of support.
In July 2004 the Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, visited the mosque and centre.British Prime Minister Blair praises Malaysia The Star, 24 July 2004
In November 2004 Prince Charles returned to see the centre.Royal seal of approval for centre BBC website The following month Elizabeth II featured excerpts of his visit in her Christmas message.Queen calls for tolerance in UK BBC website
Following the 7 July 2005 London bombings, on 22 July, the mosque was evacuated due to a bomb hoax. The hoax was blamed on extremist Muslims after it condemned the 7/7 bombings and opposed extremist teaching.
In July 2008 the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, delivered a speech on "Equality Before The Law" at an event highlighting the pro bono legal service at the LMC.
In October 2008 the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre won Islam Channel's Super Model Mosque award presented at the Global Peace and Unity event at the Excel Centre.Model Mosque Competition Global Peace and UnityBritain's Muslims Vote their Best Mosques IslamOnline (5 November 2008), by Emdad Rahman.
In December 2008 the East London Mosque planned to allow Noor Pro Media to hold a conference on 1 January 2009 which would include a videotaped lecture by Anwar al-Awlaki. Former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over al-Awlaki's involvement. A spokesman for the mosque said that "Mr Awlaki has not been proven guilty in a court of law. Everyone is entitled to their point of view", and that "We didn't organise this event, they are just using our facilities."Muslim groups 'linked to September 11 hijackers spark fury over conference' Gordon Raynor, The Daily Telegraph, 27 December 2008 But the controversy brought the mosque management to review and tighten its booking procedures for private hire of facilities by third-party groups; subsequently, publicity materials were to be approved previous to booking mosque space for events. This was accompanied by a strong statement: "The mosque will not tolerate its facilities being used for extremist groups or speakers and is now vetting all speakers and publicity materials." Shortly after, at the end of January 2009 Awlaki published his views on Jihad and more information about him gradually emerged. The mosque then decided to ban all materials from Awlaki; people who had already hired the mosque's facilities for public events and were planning to use Awlaki's materials had to remove said materials from their programme. Later in 2009, Al-Awlaki expressed support of the Fort Hood murders; the mosque issued a statement condemning his extreme views and renewed that condemnation at the end of 2009 when possible connections to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab emerged. It also prohibited the sale or distribution of Awlaki materials in the mosque and its centre."ELM Trust Statement on Anwar Al-Awlaki", on eastlondonmosque.org.uk. Summary of the statement published on November 6, 2010; with a link to the full statement.
From 2009: The Maryam Centre and the neighbouring Synagogue 19 Jun 2009: construction began of the mosque's Phase 2 expansion, the 'Maryam Centre'.
4 Mar 2010: hosted 'The BIG Read' organised with IF Charity, Islamic Forum Europe, Muslim Aid, and Tower Hamlets Council, and broke the world record for 'Most children reading with an adult', with 3,234 children listened to readings from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.The Big Read IF CharityCase Study - Most children reading with an adult Guinness World Records
5 Mar 2010: hosted the BBC's weekly live topical debate Any Questions?, chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby and with panellists Ken Livingstone (former Mayor of London), Shadow Business Secretary Kenneth Clarke, Mehdi Hasan (senior politics editor at the New Statesman) and Julia Goldsworthy (Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Communities and Local Government).Any Questions - 5 March 2010 BBC Radio 4
25 Aug 2010: subject of a BBC documentary, Middle EastEnders, that "chronicles the setbacks and triumphs of an institution which has shaped the identity of a corner of London", timed to anticipate the centenary of the mosque.Middle EastEnders BBC