All posts tagged: mosque

‘Eyesore’ mosque left unfinished after funding runs out

‘Eyesore’ mosque left unfinished after funding runs out

Published by Sam Flores

A multi-million-pound mosque has been left as an unfinished “eyesore” after a £4m shortfall in funds. The three-storey building in Gillingham, Kent, near the town’s railway station, was supposed to have a 92ft-high minaret, a dome and a prayer hall for both genders. However, in its current derelict form, residents say it looks more like a “multi-storey car park”. The building has been left unfinished after a £4m shortfall in funds – James Linsell Clark/SWNS The need for a new venue to accommodate Medway’s growing Muslim community arose because the existing Jamia Mosque in nearby Canterbury Street is too small. The building there, which has fallen into disrepair, has a capacity of 300, with up to 1,000 people sometimes attending Friday prayers. The Kent Muslim Welfare Association (KMWA), a volunteer-run charity leading the fundraising, says construction is now on hold whilst money is sought to complete it. It is understood that a further £4m needs to be added to the current £2m. ‘We need funding’ Ajaib Hussain, the KMWA chairman, told Kent Online: “Work is …

Man with axe arrested at mosque in ‘serious security incident’ | UK News

Man with axe arrested at mosque in ‘serious security incident’ | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A man has been arrested after allegedly entering a mosque in Manchester with an axe in his bag during Ramadan prayers. The suspect, a white man in his 50s, went into Manchester Central Mosque in the Victoria Park area around 8.30pm on Tuesday, police said. He was wearing hi-vis clothing and was said to have had an axe, a knife and a hammer with him. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said no one was injured and no threats were made. The force said it had not declared it a terrorist incident, but was working with counter-terrorism police to investigate. The suspect is being held on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and class B drugs. Police are searching for a second man, a black male, who is believed to have been with the suspect but left before officers arrived. The chairman of the mosque said volunteers had kept the suspect talking until police arrived and arrested him. Hammad Khan said the man was “very calm” and had been spotted visiting the mosque before. However, after entering …

Police release CCTV images after ‘bacon placed on mosque door’ | UK | News

Police release CCTV images after ‘bacon placed on mosque door’ | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

Police are investigating after bacon was placed on a mosque door in Bristol. Avon and Somerset Police said the incident, which is being treated as a hate crime, happened during prayer and coincided with the first week of the holy month of Ramadan. The force has released CCTV images of a man officers would like to speak to, explaining he may have information which could assist with the investigation. The man was described as bald and wearing high-visibility trousers and a dark jacket. Officers received reports of a hate crime at the mosque on Cheltenham Road, in the Montpelier area of Bristol, on Friday (February 20). Neighbourhood Chief Inspector Serena Serjeant said: “This was a deliberate act which has caused significant concern to the community during a period of heightened religious observance, and we will not tolerate hate in our communities. “We promptly attended the scene upon receiving the report and we are continuing to engage with mosque leaders throughout Ramadan following this appalling incident, and we will continue to offer our support and assurance. …

Teen, 18, stabbed to death outside mosque and two others injured in ‘deeply distressing’ attack

Teen, 18, stabbed to death outside mosque and two others injured in ‘deeply distressing’ attack

Published by Sam Flores

A murder investigation has been launched after a teenager was stabbed to death outside a mosque, with two others taken to hospital. Officers from West Midlands Police were called to a clash outside a mosque on Oldbury Road in Birmingham’s Smethwick district just before 9pm on Friday, February 20. An 18-year-old man was found with serious injuries and tragically died at the scene. His identity has yet to be publicly released by police. Two other men – aged 19 and 22 – were taken to hospital, although their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “At this stage the incident is not being treated as religiously or racially aggravated but we’re working to establish the full circumstances and who was involved. “We’re reviewing CCTV and carrying out other enquiries in the area. “We would urge witnesses or people with information, including mobile phone or dashcam footage, to please contact us. “We understand how deeply distressing and concerning this incident is and we will have extra officers in the …

Paris’s Grand Mosque releases guide on adapting Islam to France

Paris’s Grand Mosque releases guide on adapting Islam to France

Published by Sam Flores

The Grande Mosquée de Paris, November 1, 2025. GUILLAUME BAPTISTE/AFP The idea had been on his mind since he took over as head of the Grande Mosquée de Paris in 2020. After several years and hundreds of hours of hearings, consultations and reflection, the teams led by Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of this prominent Muslim place of worship in the French capital, presented on Tuesday, February 10, their new guide, titled “Muslims in the West.” Its goal is to adapt Muslim religious discourse to French society and culture. The 1,000-page volume is described as a “road map,” as Hafiz explained, so that Muslims can live out their faith in France peacefully. According to the mosque’s rector, the project originated from his perception of a “disastrous image of Islam” in the eyes of the general public. France has emerged from a decade marked by Islamist attacks, where terrorists used religion to justify their violence. As a result, he noted that practicing Muslims are often mistakenly associated with these acts and become victims of suspicion despite themselves. …

Drone strike on a mosque kills 2 children in Sudan’s Kordofan region

Drone strike on a mosque kills 2 children in Sudan’s Kordofan region

Published by Sam Flores

CAIRO (AP) — A drone strike at a mosque killed two children and injured 13 others in Sudan’s central region of Kordofan early Wednesday, a local doctors group said, as the country’s civil war continues. The Sudan Doctors Network, which monitors the conflict, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which are fighting the army, carried out the strike in al-Rahad city in North Kordofan. A spokesperson from the doctors’ network, Mohamed Elsheikh, told The Associated Press that the children had been attending a lesson at dawn. Targeting children inside mosques “represents a dangerous escalation in the pattern of repeated violations against civilians,” the network added. There was no immediate RSF comment. The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising. The World Health Organization says the fighting has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million. Aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in …

Suspect ‘arrested at mosque’ after UK school stabbing | UK | News

Suspect ‘arrested at mosque’ after UK school stabbing | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A boy suspected of stabbing two pupils at his former school was arrested at a mosque hours after the attack, police said. Detectives continued to question the 13-year-old after two boys aged 12 and 13 were wounded at Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London on Tuesday (February 10). The boys were taken to hospital with serious injuries, but were in a stable condition, according to police. Police have not declared the attack a terrorist incident. In its latest update Scotland Yard said the suspect is a former pupil and a British national. Det Ch Supt Helen Flanagan, from Counter-Terrorism Policing London, said the suspect arrived at the school at around 12.30pm. She said the suspect entered a classroom on the first floor of the school and sprayed a substance not believed to have been noxious at a pupil as he walked through the door. Ms Flanagan said the suspect stabbed the 13-year-old boy before running downstairs, attacking the second boy before fleeing the school. Witnesses to the attack have claimed the attacker shouted “Allahu …

New Zealand mosque shooter always planned to admit his crimes, his former lawyers tell appeals court

New Zealand mosque shooter always planned to admit his crimes, his former lawyers tell appeals court

Published by Sam Flores

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The self-professed white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims in New Zealand’s deadliest mass shooting was pleased to be charged with terrorism and wanted to be described as a terrorist, his former lawyer told a court deciding if the man was in a fit state to admit to his crimes. Brenton Tarrant, 35, was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole after pleading guilty to terrorism, murder and attempted murder for his hate-fueled massacre of worshippers including children at two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers in 2019. The Australian man is now seeking to recant the admissions he made in 2020, saying solitary confinement and other prison conditions made him irrational and mentally unwell. New Zealand’s Court of Appeal in Wellington is considering Tarrant’s bid in a five-day hearing. If the three-judge panel discards his guilty pleas, the case would return to court for trial. Shooter’s change of mind is examined Tarrant first pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced, then reversed his position before his trial …

Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque on Islamabad’s outskirts kills at least 31 and wounds scores

Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque on Islamabad’s outskirts kills at least 31 and wounds scores

Published by Sam Flores

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and wounding at least 169 others, officials said, a rare bombing in Pakistan’s capital as its Western-allied government struggles to rein in a surge in militant attacks across the country. Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals. Some of the wounded in the attack on the sprawling mosque of Khadija Al-Kubra were reported to be in critical condition. Rescuers and witnesses described a harrowing scene, with bodies and wounded lying on the mosque’s carpeted floor. Hussain Shah said he was praying in the mosque courtyard when he heard a sudden, loud explosion. “I immediately thought that some big attack had happened,” he said. He then went into the mosque to utter chaos — many of the wounded were screaming and crying out for help. Shah said he counted around 30 bodies inside the mosque, while the number of the wounded appeared to be significantly higher. …