Armavirumque, Jul 23, 2007 04:13 PM

London’s mega mosque

by

As a nineteen-year-old Londoner interning at The New Criterion, I feel it is absolutely my duty to write a blog post about the ’mega mosque’ rumors circulating in the UK. The plans, which have quietly simmered just under the public’s eye for the last year, have erupted into full blown controversy and debate.

The details of the rumor are this: the mosque would be the biggest religious complex in Europe, an enormous three-story Islamic center, with schools and other facilities, able to hold at least 40,000 worshipers and up to 70,000 if necessary. The 16-acre site it is to be based upon is right next to the 2012 Olympic stadium, with apparent plans to make it the Islamic hub for the duration of the games. As to where the funds are going to come from, rumor has it: Saudi Arabia and the Tablighi Jamaat fundamentalist Islamic sect, which has links to the radicalization of the London and Glasgow car bomb suspects and who want the mosque to be used as their international headquarters. There have also been reports that the British government will be contributing to the apparent £100 million needed to build the site. Prince Charles is, after all, no longer the Defender of the Faith but the "defender of faith."

A petition has been sent to both the Mayor of London and the Prime Minister, signed by 277,041 ’Christians of this great country England’ who believe that the money would be better spent on education and healthcare. To put the plans in prospective, the largest Christian place of worship in Europe is the Kingsway International Christian Centre, with 12,000 worshipers on a Sunday. For them the irony can not be lost that the Kingsway Centre is being knocked down to make way for the 2012 Games.

The anger and fear which this has sparked is, understandably, great. The idea of an enormous international headquarters with links to extremism right in London is terrifying enough. Add to that the fact that it would completely dwarf our beautiful Cathedrals and Churches when only 2.8% of the population is Muslim. In the name of multiculturalism and tolerance, do we need to belittle and almost forget our own country’s Christian roots? Why do Muslim communities in London feel that it is their right to form separate, Islamic city-states in Christian England? Following a speech on extremism, the home secretary John Reid was even asked how he could ’dare’ to come to a Muslim area. Even more worrying is the thought of a certain J. Epey, who posted a comment on the Telegraph website that has become an all-too-common refrain:

I think a lot of your readers are forgetting that they have no right to call this land their own Britain. Britain invaded a large part of the world, killed millions, and stole a large part of their wealth and resources. This is what funded the industrial revolution and Britain’s increased wealth and power.

All those people have every right to claim back what was stolen from them. We are all world citizens and Britain belongs to the world.

Will the introduction of this mosque merely breed more muslim resentment? We are assured, however, it is only rumor. Both Downing Street and Ken Livingstone deny the existence of any such ideas and make it perfectly clear that, at the moment, no such plans bearing any real weight are in place. The Newham councilor (responsible for the area in which the proposed mosque would be) has already called for a ban on the building. However, the people of London, England and over here in the USA do not seem to have any trouble believing that an Islamic "super building" may soon be built. Western society seems to have become so entrenched in a culture of political correctness that a monstrous mosque seems perfectly feasible. Yet, for all the talks of giant mosques and big budget schemes to make sure all religions are directly honored (well, just Islam), it is ironic that the organizers of the Olympics failed to realize that the Games fall directly during the month of Ramadan. Infidels!