The Shah Jahan Mosque (also known as Woking Mosque) is the first purpose-built mosque in Britain built 1889 in Woking, 30 miles south-west of London in Oriental Road.
Construction
The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889 as one of the first mosques in Western Europe by the Orientalist Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner in Bath and Bargate stone in indo-saracenic style commissioned by Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal (1868–1901), and maintained since then as a Waqf.
Shah Jahan Begum made sizable donations towards the building of the mosque and also contributed generously towards the founding of the “Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College” at Aligarh, which developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.
A drawing of the Woking Mosque by the architect W. I. Chambers was published in The Building News and Engineering Journal, dated 2 August 1889, shortly before the Mosque was completed. It was opened to the public in October or November, 1889.
Ahmadiyya period
The mosque fell into disuse briefly between 1900 and 1912. 1913 Leitner's son was on the point of selling the mosque to a developer. The Indian lawyer Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, who had just arrived in England, was instructed by Noor-ud-Din the first successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement to establish an Islamic mission in the mosque. Khwaja took the case to court arguing that the mosque was consecrated ground and enjoyed the same rights and status as a church. He won and as a result was able to purchase the mosque and its grounds for a nominal sum from the inheritor. The Woking Muslim Mission was established.
Imams of the mosque include: Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, Maulana Abdul Majid, H. E. Shaikh Hafiz Wahba, Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall, Maulana Muhammad Yakub Khan, Mr. William Bashyr Pickard, Maulana Mustafa Khan, Khwaja Nazir Ahmad, Maulana Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad, S. M. Abdullah, Maulana Muhammad Yahya Butt, Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, Mr. Ghulam Rabbani Khan, Maulana Sheikh Muhammad Tufail.
Today
Head Imam of the mosque is Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hashmi (MA Political Science, MA Islamic and Arabic Studies). It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889 as one of the first mosques in Western Europe by the Orientalist Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner in Bath and Bargate stone in indo-saracenic style commissioned by Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal (1868–1901), and maintained since then as a Waqf.
Shah Jahan Begum made sizable donations towards the building of the mosque and also contributed generously towards the founding of the “Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College” at Aligarh, which developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.
A drawing of the Woking Mosque by the architect W. I. Chambers was published in The Building News and Engineering Journal, dated 2 August 1889, shortly before the Mosque was completed. It was opened to the public in October or November, 1889.
Ahmadiyya period
The mosque fell into disuse briefly between 1900 and 1912. 1913 Leitner's son was on the point of selling the mosque to a developer. The Indian lawyer Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, who had just arrived in England, was instructed by Noor-ud-Din the first successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement to establish an Islamic mission in the mosque. Khwaja took the case to court arguing that the mosque was consecrated ground and enjoyed the same rights and status as a church. He won and as a result was able to purchase the mosque and its grounds for a nominal sum from the inheritor. The Woking Muslim Mission was established.
Imams of the mosque include: Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, Maulana Abdul Majid, H. E. Shaikh Hafiz Wahba, Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall, Maulana Muhammad Yakub Khan, Mr. William Bashyr Pickard, Maulana Mustafa Khan, Khwaja Nazir Ahmad, Maulana Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad, S. M. Abdullah, Maulana Muhammad Yahya Butt, Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, Mr. Ghulam Rabbani Khan, Maulana Sheikh Muhammad Tufail.
Today
Head Imam of the mosque is Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hashmi (MA Political Science, MA Islamic and Arabic Studies). It is a Grade II* listed building.
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