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Mega-mosque falls foul of planning laws
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday November 5, 2006
The Observer
Plans to build Britain's first mega-mosque in east London have been thrown into doubt amid opposition from local Muslims and news that the radical group behind the project has fallen foul of planning laws.
Tablighi Jamaat, an evangelical Islamic group which each year sends hundreds of young British Muslims to fundamentalist religious schools in Pakistan, wants to build the huge mosque in Newham to hold between 40,000 and 70,000 followers, depending on planning permission.
The proposal, which would create the largest religious building in Britain, has led to a unique coalition of local Muslims and fundamentalist Christians who accuse Tablighi Jamaat of being a radical organisation. They say that two of the 7/7 bombers, Mohammed Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, attended Tablighi Jamaat mosques. Counter-terrorism sources say it is more likely that radicalised young Muslims are attracted to Tablighi Jamaat than the other way round. So far, 2,500 Muslims living near the mosque site have signed a petition against the plan. Asif Shakoor, chairman of the Sunni Friends of Newham, said: 'It is radicalising the younger generation. We have to make a stand.'
Tablighi Jamaat now faces further problems. Currently temporary buildings serve as a mosque on the site. Planning permission for the temporary mosque expired last Tuesday, the day Tablighi Jamaat had pledged to submit plans for the new mosque. A spokeswoman for Newham council confirmed the organisation had breached planning laws.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...939889,00.html
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday November 5, 2006
The Observer
Plans to build Britain's first mega-mosque in east London have been thrown into doubt amid opposition from local Muslims and news that the radical group behind the project has fallen foul of planning laws.
Tablighi Jamaat, an evangelical Islamic group which each year sends hundreds of young British Muslims to fundamentalist religious schools in Pakistan, wants to build the huge mosque in Newham to hold between 40,000 and 70,000 followers, depending on planning permission.
The proposal, which would create the largest religious building in Britain, has led to a unique coalition of local Muslims and fundamentalist Christians who accuse Tablighi Jamaat of being a radical organisation. They say that two of the 7/7 bombers, Mohammed Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, attended Tablighi Jamaat mosques. Counter-terrorism sources say it is more likely that radicalised young Muslims are attracted to Tablighi Jamaat than the other way round. So far, 2,500 Muslims living near the mosque site have signed a petition against the plan. Asif Shakoor, chairman of the Sunni Friends of Newham, said: 'It is radicalising the younger generation. We have to make a stand.'
Tablighi Jamaat now faces further problems. Currently temporary buildings serve as a mosque on the site. Planning permission for the temporary mosque expired last Tuesday, the day Tablighi Jamaat had pledged to submit plans for the new mosque. A spokeswoman for Newham council confirmed the organisation had breached planning laws.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...939889,00.html
I had posted an article on how the Tablighi was a growing threat to the US.
The "moderate" Moslem in concert with Christians have taken the correct step of declaring the Tablighi as a radical organistation and the Tablighi should take heart that they have not been declared as a terrorist organisation, since the inner working does indicate the connection!
