North London Central Mosque

North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, London was built in the 1990s to serve the large Muslim 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) to take it over. In 1996 they installed Abu Hamza al-Masri as imam 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 station, close toArsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium.

Change of leadership

Following the 2003 raid the Mosque was reclaimed by mainstream Muslims, including representatives from the Muslim Association of Britain, 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.