Abbey Mills Mosque

The Abbey Mills Mosque, also known as the London Markaz or Masjid-e-Ilyas (Arabic: ), is a temporary mosque located in Stratford, east London, accommodating around 2,500 people. Plans were made to expand the capacity of the mosque to what would have been the largest religious building in Britain – three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral – and one of the largest mosques in western Europe. For this reason the proposed building is often informally referred to in the press as the "mega-mosque". The mosque extension was to have been built by Tablighi Jamaat, near the site of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen, Tablighi Jamaat's charitable trust, has been the owner of the site since 1996. The Tablighi Jamaat website devoted to the mosque places the maximum capacity at 12,000 worshippers. The plan sparked controversy for various reasons, including its initially reported size and the possible chemical contamination risk associated with the site. Mosque officials are engaged in resolving the controversies, as well as countering the perception implied by the term "mega-mosque". Public response to the mosque and associated controversies has included online petitions, various public talks, debates, speeches and various demonstrations. In February 2010, Newham Council tried to shut down the existing temporary facility. This was overturned on appeal and a two-year extension granted for the use of the site. In 2012, Newham Council refused permission for the plans and following appeals in 2015 and 2018 is looking to demolish the site so it can be developed for residential and commercial purposes.

In 1996 Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen purchased the Abbey Mills site (the location of a former chemical works) for £1.6 million. In 2001, the Tablighi Jamaat was issued a five-year permit to use the site as a place of worship; however, the permit expired before building commenced. In 2007 the site plan incorporated a mosque capable of accommodating 12,000 people, a visitor and conference centre, substantial parking for cars and facilities for bicycles, a new entrance to the West Ham Underground station, a residential school for 500 pupils, a reception centre for visiting VIPs—including about 20 guest suites, a plan for the retention of the natural habitat on the island location within the site, and extensive landscaping. The Tablighi Jamaat also stated that they plan to develop the mosque to make full use of natural resources, reducing the mosque's energy consumption and increasing the mosque's recycling. With the expiration of the permit to use the site, and neither a current plan permission nor application for a mosque, the building's future appeared uncertain. In February 2010, Newham Council tried to shut down the existing temporary facility by serving an enforcement notice on the owners. However, this was overturned on appeal and a two-year extension granted for the use of the site. In 2012, Newham Council refused permission for the plans. Tablighi Jamaat appealed against this decision, but the appeal was dismissed by the UK Government in October 2015. Tablighi Jamaat then started using the site as a temporary mosque, capable of accommodating 2,500 people, while they sought to overturn a demolition order. In February 2018 the demolition order was upheld and Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen was ordered to pay reparations of over £22,000 to the council. The Newham council hopes to develop the site for housing and businesses.

Mosque data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).