Al-Rahma Mosque, Liverpool
Al-Rahma Mosque | |
---|---|
Al-Rahma Mosque, Liverpool | |
Basic information | |
Location | Toxteth, Liverpool, England |
Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
Website |
www |
Completed | July 1974 |
Capacity | Accommodates between 2,000 and 2,500 people. |
Dome(s) | 1 |
Minaret(s) | 2 |
MISSING PARAM: administration Liverpool Muslim Society
The Al-Rahma Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الرحمة) is a mosque located on Hatherley Street in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, which can accommodate between 2,000 and 2,500 people[1] and serves as the main place of worship and focus point for Liverpool's Muslim population, estimated at 25,000 people.[2] The Al-Rahma Mosque is currently the largest of Liverpool's three mosques, followed by the Penny Lane mosque and a proposed mosque and Muslim centre on the former Anfield Community Comprehensive School site.
Architecture and History
The first ever mosque in England was built in Liverpool; it was opened at 8 Brougham Terrace by a solicitor and Muslim convert William Abdullah Quilliam on 25 December 1889 and the mosque he constructed was maintained until 1908.[3] That mosque was refurbished by the local community beginning in 2010[3][4] and is now occupied by the Liverpool Muslim Society.
The Liverpool Muslim Society was established in 1953 by the late Al-Haj Ali Hizzam, a member of Liverpool's Muslim Community, operating out of a room in his house. The society was determined to build a place of worship to meet the spiritual needs of Liverpool's small Muslim population which was then about 3,000. The Muslim community had been without a mosque since 1908. In 1965 construction of the Al-Rahma mosque started, with the main prayer hall being completed in July 1974. During the Mosque's construction, on Fridays and Muslim festivals, the Pakistan Centre opposite and the car park was used as a temporary prayer space. The first small floor, the madrassah and the imam’s accommodation were added in 1979.
In 2007, the Al-Rahma Mosque began buying up the surrounding and nearby buildings on Hatherley Street to renovate them for Muslim families and to further extend the mosque.[5] The current version of the mosque is a three-story building topped with a traditional dome and crescent. It opened in 2008 during Liverpool's tenure as "European Capital of Culture".
Today
The current building is used primarily by the city's Arab and Somali populations whom constitute the vast majority of Liverpool's Muslim population, estimated at around 25,000.[6] At the mosque there are daily prayers as well as Jumu'ah on Fridays, and the mosque also provides free meals, and its services include a day centre for the elderly, children’s sporting clubs, and weekend Arabic lessons.
See also
- List of mosques in the United Kingdom
- Religion in the United Kingdom
- Islam in the United Kingdom
- Islam in England
- Timeline of Islamic history
- Liverpool Muslim Society
- Liverpool Muslim Institute
- Abdullah Quilliam
- Islamic architecture
- Islamic art
References
- ↑ Liverpool Muslim Society - Mosque History
- ↑ http://www.islamicfinder.org/getitWorld.php?id=20451
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bartlett, David (15 January 2010). "Liverpool City Council's plans to restore Britain’s first mosque". Liverpool Daily Post. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.
- ↑ "Green light for mosque project". Liverpool Echo. 22 Jul 2008.
- ↑ Williams, Liza (10 July 2007). "Mosque and residents in bid to save derelict houses". Liverpool Daily Post.
- ↑ http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/show-mosque.php?id=1029