London Central Mosque

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The London Central Mosque is a large mosque located near the Baker Street Underground station and Regent's Park in the London Borough of Westminster. It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1978, and has a prominent golden dome. The main hall can hold almost two thousand worshippers. Apart from a magnificent chandelier and a vast carpet there is very little furniture inside the Mosque. All visitors remove their shoes as do all worshippers. The main purpose of this is to keep the mosque clean and has now come to be seen in general as a sign of respect. There is a separate gallery for women worshippers, who must cover their heads as part of normal preparation to perform the daily prayers, of which there are five, that both men and women observe. The inside of the dome is decorated with broken shapes in the Islamic tradition. There is also a small shop and halal café in it.

The Mosque is joined to the Islamic cultural centre which was officially opened by King George VI in 1944 and was given as an unconditional gift to the UK Muslim community.

[edit] See also

• Islam in the United Kingdom
• Timeline of Islamic history
• Islamic architecture
• Islamic art
• List of mosques

[edit] External links

• The Islamic Cultural Centre & The London Central Mosque