Brixton Mosque

Brixton Mosque
File:Brixton Mosque, Gresham Road.jpg
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Sect	Salafi
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Mosque
Status	Active
Location
Location	1 Gresham Road, Brixton, South London, England
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates
Architecture
Type	House
Completed	1990
Website
brixtonmasjid.co.uk

The Brixton Mosque, officially known as The Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre, and also known as Masjid ibn Taymeeyah, is a Salafi Sunni mosque, located in Gresham Road in the Brixton area of South London, England, in the United Kingdom. The mosque is managed by Black British converts and is known for its history of controversy.

Controversies

Abdullah al-Faisal

Abdullah el-Faisal, a radical Takfiri Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was imprisoned for stirring up racial hatred and in 2007 deported to Jamaica, was associated with the Brixton Mosque in the early 1990s, preaching to crowds of up to 500 people. In 1993, el-Faisal was ejected by the mosque's administration who objected to his radical preaching. In 2007, the London Evening Standard published an apology for referring to el-Faisal as the "Brixton Mosque preacher", and clarified that el-Faisal only preached at Brixton Mosque in the early 1990s and not after 1994.

Richard Reid

The mosque made international headlines when it was reported that Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber", had attended the mosque from 1996 to 1998 after converting to Islam in jail. Abdul Haqq Baker, a former chairman of mosque, told the BBC that Reid came to the mosque to learn about Islam, but fell in with what he called "more extreme elements" in London's Muslim community. "We have been in contact with the police numerous times over the last five years to warn of the threat posed by militant groups operating in our area," said Baker in December 2001 after Reid's arrest. He had warned that terrorist "talent scouts" prey on mosques like the Brixton mosque in search of the young and unstable. Baker warned the congregation, "The recruiting has got out of control. Beware. It's your sons, your teenagers who are plucked into these extreme groups." A Time magazine article in 2002 said: "The Brixton Mosque is an ideal hunting ground for terrorist talent spotters since it attracts mainly young worshipers, including ex-convicts it helps rehabilitate."

Zacarias Moussaoui

Zacarias Moussaoui, who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, frequented the mosque between 1996 and 1997. Some sources report that it was during this period that he met Richard Reid, though others are less certain. Moussaoui was expelled from the mosque after he began wearing combat fatigues and a backpack to the mosque, and pressured the cleric to provide him with information on how to join the jihad.

See also

• Islam in London
• Islamism in London
• List of mosques in the United Kingdom

External links

• Official website
• Recent Short Documentary of Brixton Mosque
• "London mosque leader recalls bomb suspect: Interview with Abdul Haqq Baker", CNN, 26 December 2001 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• "The Devil's Deception of Abdullaah Faisal ('Sheikh Faisal'); Critical Study of Abdullah el-Faisal's Methodology"; SalafiManhaj (2007)
• "A view from the inside: Abdul Haqq Baker provides an account of the Brixton Mosque and the shifting perceptions towards it, since it was founded," Abdul Haqq Baker, Criminal Justice Matters, Volume 73, Issue 1 (September 2008), pp. 24–25
• Islam in London: Documentary about Brixton Mosque