North London Central Mosque

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North London Central Mosque.

North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, London, was built in 1990 to serve the large Muslim population in the area.

Al Qaeda terrorists, including "shoebomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, both attended Finsbury Park mosque.^[1] Abu Hamza al-Masri is a former imam of the mosque.^[2]

1 Beslan school hostage crisis
2 Change of leadership
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Beslan school hostage crisis

On October 3, 2004, The Observer revealed that 46-year-old Kamel Rabat Bouralha attended the mosque. Bouralha, with UK citizens Osman Larussi and Yacine Benalia, were loyal to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. Basayev has boasted of training the men who took control of the school in Beslan, Russia 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.

[edit] Change of leadership

After the 2003 raid, the mosque was reclaimed by mainstream Muslims, who installed a new board of trustees and imam. The mosque now offers courses open to the general public, and weekly attendance has tripled and the Mosque continues to exert a very powerful attraction for Muslim refugees from North African countries who visit numerous cafes and shops on Blackstock Road. Formerly called the Finsbury Park Mosque, since February 2005 the mosque has been renamed to the North London Central Mosque.

The mosque is now playing a very effective role in creating harmony, community cohesion and furthering dialogue. It is a member of some local organizations including Islington Faith Forum and enjoys wide support from the community as well as the local authorities. It is open for public visits, awareness weeks, community open days and tries to work along with other organizations to promote mainstream Islam, denounce violence and terrorism and work hard for integration and peace.