Background Summary

20 May 2009 - 10:30am

The large size of the proposed mosque and the controversial nature of the backers, Tablighi Jama’at (TJ), first came to public prominence via The Sunday Times in November 2005. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article597161.ece)
TJ bought the 18 acre site adjacent to West Ham station (Jubilee and District lines) in 1996 for £1.6m. The site is currently owned by TJ’s registered charity Anjuman-E-Islahul Muslimeen UK (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ShowCharity/RegisterOfCharities/Cha...). The land was previously a chemical factory and is significantly contaminated.
TJ currently have a temporary portal-frame mosque on site (Masjid-e Ilyas) operating without planning permission but with Newham Council’s tacit consent. The prayer halls have a capacity of around 2,000.
TJ’s current UK and European headquarters mosque is in the Savile Town area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6050000/newsid_6057300/6057324.s...) Reports have said that the proposed mosque will be a new international headquarters (Markaz) for the group although there seems to be a split within Tablighi Jamaat over this. (http://www.lapidomedia.com/news/megamosque_split_14-04-2009.php)
Following adverse publicity and a strong local opposition campaign, TJ agreed in December 2006 that Sohail Sarbuland, managing director of north London-based Crossier Properties PLC (www.crossier.co.uk), should step in to manage and finance the project through to submission of the masterplan to Newham Council (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/europe/04megamosque.html).
Sarbuland promptly sacked project manager Abdul Khaliq and Muslim architect Ali Mangera, and appointed a non-Muslim triumvirate of professionals comprising world-class architects Allies & Morrison (http://www.alliesandmorrison.co.uk) (BBC, Royal Festival Hall, etc), leading property consultants GVA Grimley (http://www.gvagrimley.co.uk), and Mayfair PR advisors Indigo Public Affairs (http://www.indigopublicaffairs.com). This has led to a more professional approach to media management including a project website (www.abbeymillsmosque.com) which was suspended in Dec 2008, and a YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/AbbeymillsMosque).
Indigo have announced that the mosque masterplan will be ready for publication by mid-2009. Download the leaflet here.

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