The largest mosque complex in
western Europe, which can hold up to 10,000 worshippers, was today being
opened in Morden, Surrey.
The Ahmadi Muslims, who constructed the first London mosque in Putney,
south-west London, almost 80 years ago, have built the huge architectural
landmark.
The new structure, which is adorned with a 15.5 metre dome, is named the
Baitul Futuh mosque. Its construction was funded entirely by voluntary
donations from individual community members.
The inauguration ceremony is expected to symbolise how the community, which
condemns any form of extremism, has peacefully co-existed and integrated in
Britain for almost a century.
Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the new worldwide supreme head of the
community, will inaugurate the mosque with Friday prayers.
British devotees, together with representatives from about 50 other
countries, are expected to fill the mosque to its capacity for the occasion.
Rafiq Ahmed Hayat, president of the UK community, said: "It's a second
historic occasion for the Ahmadi Muslims to add to the heritage of British
culture and to the presence of the Muslim community in Britain.
"We built the very first London mosque in 1924, which has become a tourist
landmark of south-west London. This time, we have produced the largest and
the most sophisticated mosque in Britain to serve as a landmark for the next
century."
People from the US, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Germany are expected to attend
the opening ceremony, a spokesman said.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim community was founded in Qadian, India, by Hadhrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in March 1889. In a little over a century, it has spread
to 174 countries and has 200 million followers from around the world.