A call has been made for Newham Council in east London to take enforcement action against Tablighi Jamaat, the neo-fundamentalist missionary Islamic sect closely linked to a number of the men convicted yesterday in the Atlantic airline terror plot.
Earlier reports also confirmed that at least two of the London 7/7 bombers – Mohammed Siddiqui Khan and Shehzad Tanweer – attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s mosque in Beeston while Tanweer dropped out of university to study at the huge madrassa attached to the group’s mosque in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
The Islamic group is now hoping to build Britain’s biggest mosque and Islamic centre on the site of a former chemicals factory in West Ham, east London, near the site of the London 2012 Olympic Park. The estimated cost of the project is £300 million. It has been reported that the mosque and centre are planned to accommodate 70,000 people, only 10,000 fewer than the Olympic stadium itself.
(Currently, the largest mosque in Morden, south London, holds 10,000 people, while Liverpool's Anglican cathedral, the largest Christian church in the United Kingdom, holds 3,000).
The complex is designed to become the ‘Muslim quarter’ for the Games, acting as a hub for Islamic competitors and spectators. It would also become the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat in Europe, replacing their existing European headquarters at the mosque in Dewsbury built with Saudi money in the 1970s.
From its very inception, when the project has not even left the drawing board, it has already run into serious controversy.
(See the video of the first debate on the project)
Opponents raised various issues including mosque’s size, the possible chemical contamination risk associated with the site, the uncertainty as to the sources of funding that will be used by Tablighi Jamaat, and alleged links between Tablighi Jamaat and Islamic terrorism.
In 2005, Abdul Khalique, a senior member of Tablighi Jamaat, said that the mosque 'will be something never seen before in this country'. He added that the building of the mosque is 'for the future as part of the British landscape’.
(See The Times report)
Other supporters of the project insist that it will benefit everyone in the local community – not just Muslims. They say that the mosque’s gardens and conference facilities will be open to everyone.
However, the project has attracted fierce criticism from politicians and many people in the area.
In March 2008, Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, co-founder of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, publicly opposed the construction of the mosque, stating that ‘We have too many mosques. I think it should not be built. What we need first is more integration between the existing mosques and the wider community.’
This week, Cllr Alan Craig, Leader of the Opposition on Newham Council who has been leading the campaign against the project, is calling for the executive Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, to take enforcement action against Tablighi Jamaat who have been using the site unlawfully since October 2006.
‘For two long years Newham Council have allowed Tablighi Jamaat to use the site without any planning permission at all,’ said Cllr Craig who leads the Christian Peoples Alliance group on the Council.
‘Why should this narrow separatist sect be allowed to flout the law like this, when the Council claims it promotes an active law and order agenda especially over anti-social behaviour, street safety and all other areas of borough life?
‘This looks like unacceptable favouritism by the Labour-run council towards this hostile and irresponsible group. This is unacceptable, especially in the light of Tablighi Jamaat's clear links to other unlawful activities like Islamic terrorism,’ continued Cllr Craig.
In November 2007, Cllr Craig became a subject to death threat through a subtle haunting video posted on YouTube showing his purported obituary, together with that of his wife and two children. It was discovered that the video, which was created by 23-year-old Muhammad from Stevenage, known by his online moniker as Abdullah 1425, was promoted on the mosque's website via a link to material supporting the project. After complaints to the police the video was removed. Muhammad later posted another video trying to refute the accusations.
(See The Times report)
Cllr Craig has submitted a Question to the Mayor about enforcement at the site for next Monday’s Newham Council meeting, the full text of which is below:
Text of Cllr Craig’s Question to Newham’s executive Mayor:
Enforcement at Abbey Mills mosque site
It is now almost two years since the temporary planning permission at Abbey Mills mosque site ran out, yet it continues to be used unlawfully on a daily basis.
Will the Mayor now take enforcement action in order to demonstrate that the Council expects all organisations and residents in the borough to act within and respect the law?
Councillor Alan Craig
Christian Peoples Alliance
Media links