Finsbury Park Mosque
Encyclopedia
Finsbury Park, London
Finsbury Park is an area in north London, England which grew up around an important railway interchange at the junction of the London Boroughs of Islington, Haringey and Hackney...
was built in the 1990s to serve the large Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
population in the area. It has a capacity of 1,800 people.
Until 2005 it was known as Finsbury Park Mosque. The mosque was riven with leadership disputes in the 1990s, allowing extremist Islamist preachers (many of whom were refugees from the Algerian Civil War
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
) to take it over. In 1996 they installed Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...
as imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
of the mosque, which subsequently developed a reputation as a centre of radical Islamism in London.
History and location
The main building was opened in 1994 in a ceremony attended by Prince Charles. The Mosque is located opposite Finsbury Park stationFinsbury Park station
Finsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...
, close to Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
Football Club's Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
.
Former terrorism links
Al Qaeda operatives including "shoebomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias MoussaouiZacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...
attended the Mosque. In 2002, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that weapons training had taken place inside the building.
Beslan school hostage crisis
On 3 October 2004, The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
revealed that 46-year-old Kamel Rabat Bouralha
Kamel Rabat Bouralha
Kamel Rabat Bouralha, is the name of an Algerian-born British citizen who has been accused by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation of being a key aide to Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev in organizing the Beslan school hostage crisis....
attended the mosque. Bouralha, with UK citizens Osman Larussi and Yacine Benalia
Yacine Benalia
Yacine Benalia was an Algerian-born Islamist militant who allegedly participated in the Beslan school hostage crisis in September of 2004. Whether he truly participated is unclear, as he was also reported killed in Chechnya in March of 2004, six months before the hostage drama in North...
, was loyal to Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
warlord Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
. Basayev has boasted of training the men who took control of the school in Beslan, Russia
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
and wired it with explosives. Investigators believe that the three men, all Algerian-born, travelled to Chechnya from London to take part in fighting there in 2001. Like Bouralha, they are believed to have attended Finsbury Park mosque and to have joined the network of groups loyal to Basayev on arrival in Chechnya.
In 2003, over one hundred armed police raided the building as part of the investigation into the alleged Wood Green ricin plot
Wood Green ricin plot
The Wood Green ricin plot was a 2002 alleged bioterrorism plot to attack the London Underground with ricin poison. The planned attack had connections with al-Qaeda...
. Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...
was eventually jailed for seven years in 2006 after being convicted of inciting murder and race hate.
Change of leadership
Following the 2003 raid the Mosque was reclaimed by mainstream Muslims, including representatives pf the Muslim Association of BritainMuslim Association of Britain
The Muslim Association of Britain is an Islamic organisation in the United Kingdom established in 1997.-Anti-war activities:Along with Stop the War Coalition and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, it has co-sponsored various demonstrations against the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq...
, who installed a new board of trustees and imam. The Mosque now offers courses open to the general public, and weekly attendance has tripled. It is open for public visits, awareness weeks, community open days and it aims to promote Islam as a religion of tolerance and co-operation.
See also
- Islam in LondonIslam in LondonIslam is London's largest and most significant minority religion. There were 607,083 Muslims reported in the 2001 census in the Greater London area. Most Muslims are concentrated in the east London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest...
- Islamism in London
- Islam in the United KingdomIslam in the United KingdomIslam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...
- Timeline of Islamic history
- Islamic architectureIslamic architectureIslamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
- Islamic artIslamic artIslamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations...
- IslamismIslamismIslamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
- List of mosques
- LondonistanLondonistan (term)Londonistan is a pejorative sobriquet in use by parts of the media referring to the British capital of London and the British Government's alleged tolerance of the presence of various Islamist groups in London and other major cities of Britain as long as they carry out their controversial...
- Beslan school hostage crisisBeslan school hostage crisisThe Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...