After a decade-long battle, plans to build a mega mosque – with 4 times the capacity of St Paul’s Cathedral in the East End of London – have finally been rejected by Newham Borough Council. The plans had been put forward by Tablighi Jamaat, a socially conservative Muslim movement criticized for its isolationism, and potentially militant views.
Newham Council rejected the planning application on the grounds the building was “too big”, would generate too much traffic and the site was “heavily contaminated”. Alan Craig, a local councillor and head of the Christian People’s Alliance which has led opposition to the mosque, said: “I’m opposed to both the nature of the group and the size of the mosque they want to build… if Tablighi Jamaat wanted to build a neighbourhood mosque, that’s fine. But they want to build a massive headquarters in an area that cannot support such a building.”
Opponents had claimed the mosque, about the same size as Battersea Power Station, could become Britain’s first Sharia controlled zone. There was particular concern that a number of convicted bombers had attended other Tablighi mosques or studied at their madrassas. The leader of the July 21 gang, Muktar Ibrahim, attended a Tablighi mosque in east London and the “fifth bomber”
in the July 21 plot, Manfo Asiedu, attended a Tablighi gathering in Dewsbury.
Source: The Independent; The Telegraph
BIBLE STUDY: Zechariah 4:6-9
PRAISE: God that a potentially divisive building has been stopped. Pray for the UK Muslim community, that many may meet their true Saviour, Jesus.