Muslims oppose Europe's biggest mosque

London, Nov 28: Tablighi Jamaat's proposed plan to build Europe's biggest mosque beside the London 2012 Olympic Park is facing a stiff opposition from the Muslim community.

The concerns, according to sources, stem from the alleged link between Tablighi Jamaat and certain terrorist outfits.

A leaked FBI memo, obtained by US news media in 2005, raised fears that al-Qaeda was using membership of Tablighi Jamaat ''as cover . . . to network with other extremists in the US''.

According to the sources, a number of British terrorists have had associations with the organisation, including Richard Reid, the shoe bomber now in prison in the US. Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, two of the July 7 bombers, had links with the large Tablighi Jamaat mosque in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

A petition against the scheme, organised by Muslims in the East London borough of Newham, attracted 2,500 signatures in ten days and is continuing to draw support. It says allowing Tablighi Jamaat to build the mosque would aggravate community tensions.

Europe director of the Centre for Islamic Pluralism Dr Irfan ai-Alawi said,''Tablighi are not moderate Muslims, they are a separatist movement.'' If this mosque were to go ahead it will be strictly run by the Tablighis; there will be no room for moderates, he added.

Asif Shakoor, chairman of Sunni Friends of Newham, said the petition was a response to a feeling that the voices of most Muslims in the area were not being heard. The petition text states- ''We propose that when and if planning permission is granted . . . that all Muslim groups be equally represented at the proposed place of worship that is to celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games in London.'' Temporary planning permission for a makeshift mosque on the site has expired and a formal application for the new complex has not yet been lodged.

The scheme for the mosque, drawn up by the award-winning architects, MYAA, includes a complex containing an Islamic garden, school and prayer space for as many as 70,000 worshippers - 23 times greater than the capacity of Liverpool cathedral, Britain's largest Christian place of worship.

UNI