United Kingdom: London rejects plans to build the largest mosque in Europe
The municipal council of Newham, one of the districts of London, rejected the plan to build one of the largest mosques in Western Europe. The project, designed to accommodate 10,000 believers, would have been four times as large as Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the largest religious building in the British capital.
The Indian group Tablighi Jamaat, founded during the colonial era, had submitted, however, a request for a permit to build on a 6-hectare [15-acre] lot that already has on it an Islamic center than can accommodate 6,000 persons. The municipal council determined that the proposed mosque was too large and would have adverse consequences on the historical buildings situated nearby.
The largest Islamic center currently in Western Europe is already located in England. It is the Baitul Futuh mosque, in Southwestern London. The 21,000-square-meter [226,000-square-feet] complex can accommodate 10,000 believers, 4,500 of them in the mosque itself. (Sources: apic/kna—DICI no. 267 dated December 21, 2012)
