London: Tablighi Jamaat mosque plans on hold

London: Tablighi Jamaat mosque plans on hold


Controversial plans to build Europe's biggest mosque close to the London Olympics site have been halted, The Times has learnt.


Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic sect behind the proposal, is to be evicted this week from the East London site, where it has been operating illegally a temporary mosque and had planned a complex that would accommodate 12,000 worshippers.


The Muslim Council of Britain said that the group had fallen victim to "unfounded hostility and hysteria".


However, another Muslim organisation last night welcomed the move. Minhaj-ul-Quran, which advises the Government on how to combat youth radicalisation, said that a mosque should be a "community effort" and not the initiative of one group with extremist links.


Newham Council is now considering compulsory purchase of the land after Tablighi Jamaat, whose strict interpretation of Islam has caused concern, failed to lodge a masterplan of its vision. There was strong opposition when the sect unveiled its plans for the site, south of the London 2012 Olympic Park, in 2007. More than 48,000 people petitioned the Government to prevent the development, dubbed the "mega-mosque".


Although Tablighi Jamaat had publicly vowed to press on with its vision, there has been no activity on the project since last summer.


The Times understands that its architects are not actively working on the plans and a company hired to win over the public is no longer formally engaged. Newham Council's planning officers have not spoken to the mosque trust for several months.


Newham Council confirmed that it issued enforcement notices against the trust on Thursday. The makeshift mosque on the West Ham site has been operating illegally since temporary planning permission lapsed more than three years ago.



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Campaigners welcomed the outcome, saying that the proposed mosque — which would have held four times as many worshippers as Britain's largest Anglican cathedral — was inappropriate. Alan Craig, a councillor representing the Christian Peoples' Alliance, said: "It would have given a huge national platform, right by the Olympics, for them to promote their ideology."


However, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We would hope that they will be able to work in co-operation with the local council if they wish to set up a mosque in the area. Tablighi Jamaat has no ties to terrorism. They have been subjected to some unfair coverage."


The mosque trust has refused to comment.


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Source: The Times

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