End of year 2007 update.

What a year its been. 2007 started with still a few changes needing approval from the Council. Work started in earnest in Ramadan, and at the end of the year passers by can actually see the new Masjid structure from afar.

The ground floor slab should be two thirds completed (concrete etc) by the end of the year (I.A.).

The first floor metal decking is complete, and concrete will be laid in the early 2008 (I.A.).

Insha Allah, with your duas and Allah's mercy, we hope to have the 'shell' completed by Ramadan next year. The roofing and drainage contracts have been given, and work will commence in January, and completed in February(I.A.). We are currently negotiating with the brick and stone suppliers, with a view to starting the wall building in March / April, with the dome / minarets in April / May, and windows in July / August.

All this can only be acheived with your duas, Allah's mercy and help, and your donations. We still need another half a million pounds to complete the project, so we need your donations to keep coming in.

May the Almighty accept all the efforts and donations of all those involved in the project, and bless them with abundance, peace and tranquility in both worlds.

October / Ramadan update

Pictures (Top to bottom, L to R) 1. Bricks from old church in excavations for foundations. 2. Deep footings, in places 3.5 metres deep. 3. First fill of concrete. 4. Final 'fill' and 'pads' ready for steel structure. 5. Ground levelled, view from 'Imams' position. 6. As 5 - view from opposite corner.

What a month we've had. Ramadan was very successful on two counts. The foundations were completed, and we raised over £200 thousand. Monies have been pleadges for the bricks (complete), stone (still available @ £285 for 10 sq metres), blocks (complete), concrete for the floors (still available at £150 for 10 sq mtrs) and Musallas (Prayer carpets - still a few available @ £70 each inc underlay and fitting). Why not take part, see our main website for details of how to make a contribution.

The pictures tell the story so far, we now await the steel structure, erection commences 12th November, and should be completed in two weeks (this includes the concrete stairs as well), therafter, the ground floor will be laid by the end of december, with the drainage, roof and first floor in January / February. We hope to start the walls and brickwork in March (Insha Allah).

Keep making duas that the progress is speedy and without any hitches.

Foundations - Ramadan (September 2007) update.

Top to bottom (L-R) - Pre-foundation site (1 & 2) Digger arrives....................
................................... on site ........................ After Ground leveling



Setting profile markers ......... Audley Range foundation......... Walter St Foundation trenches.



Alhumdolillah, the foundation work has started first week of Ramadan.



They say one picture speaks volumes, well here are a few.................

In the first week of Ramadan, we raised £28,911 pounds, with alot of people donating to the 'Ramadan Bricks, Stone and Blocks Appeal'. Some ladies also donated their gold jewellery.

Total raised to date is now over half a million pounds.

Please make duas for the project during this holy month, and for full details visit our website (link on right).

Wassalaam.

Foundations and steel structure - August 2007 update.

Alhumdolillah, through the prayers and efforts of all and Allah's mercy, the local council have approved the design of the foundations and steel structure.

This now means that we can start the construction work with earnest. Negotiations with contractors will be finalised by end of August, and orders placed for this work, with work starting before Ramadan, Insha-Allah.

We are planning a Jalsa on September 9th (Sunday before Ramadan), Ulemas and Shaikhs from UK and abroad have been invited, following acceptances, full details will be published. The programme will start at Zohar (Jamat 2.00 pm) followed by Qiraat, speeches, Madressa annual prize giving, followed by digging of the foundation and duas for the New Masjid. After Asar Jamat at 5.45pm, food will be served to all attendees.

We pray that the Almighty makes this task as easy as possible, and accepts all our duas and efforts in building this House of Allah.

As always we ask you all to remember this Project in your duas, especially in the holy months of Shabaan and Ramadan. Also with the work starting, we will need to escalate our financial appeal, and ask for donations. Please see our main website (link above) for full details of the appeal and methods of payment.

Wassalaam.

Project Management Team.

26th August 2007

13th Shabaan 1428

Ground preparation works - End July 2007

July 2007 saw a lot of progress on the project. We now have a site cabin, kindly donated by a local contractor, as he had no further use for it.



Alhumdolillah, ground preparation work started on Friday 20th July 2007. The trees came down first.........

. Going................

..............Going

GONE....... 1 down, 20 to go.

Actually, we only had permission to take down 7 trees, but the site geological survey, and the tree specialist's report, concluded that remedial work for land contamination, and the tree protection measures during construction work, would mean that the trees would not survive, the local Council, therefore gave permission for the removal of all trees on the site, on condition that the landscaping plan should include planting of a number of new trees of a variety to suit the development. This will now be addressed, and submitted to the Council for approval.

The site has now been excavated in preparation for the foundations.

..............Before

After ................

The planned start date for foundations is still the end of August (Shabe Baraat), Insha Allah.

We continue to ask for you to make duas (prayers) for the project's speedy progress.

May Allah accept our humble efforts, and make it a means for our salvation in the hereafter.

New Masjid Project Management Team.

27th July 2007.

Progress update 24th June 2007

Since the last blog, a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes. Current state of play is as follows:

Structural / foundations design - complete, minor amendments required.
Detailed design - forecast for completion 29th June 2007.
Building services (Electrics / water / drainage / heating) forecast for completion 29th June.

All above form part of the submission to the local authority for Building Regulations. The above will all be collated and submitted to the council 3rd / 4th of July. Thereafter it takes approx 4 - 6 weeks for review / approval.

Based on above, Insha - Allah foundation work will commence mid - August, approx Shabe Baraat (15th Shabaan), with the steelwork being completed during Ramadan.

At this crucial stage, we ask everyone to make special duas (Prayers) for the project, that the timescales can be met, and work started as hoped.

Alhumdolillah, hundreds gathered at the site of the new Masjid on Sunday 17th June for a special Dua for the new Masjid. Hazrat Moulana Yusuf Motala Saheb (Darul Uloom Bury) gave a very inspirational and spiritual short speech, followed by Hazrat Moulana Ismail Wadee Saheb (our resident Sheikh and previous Imam). Then our Guest of Honour Hazrat Moulana Qamruzzamaan Saheb (Allahabad / Ilhabaad, India) gave a short speech. The gathering finished with, on the insistence of our Guest of Honour, a dua for the project by Hazrat Moulana Wadee saheb. May Allah accept their duas, and make the project work easy, and as smooth as possible.

Financially, again, the above will have a great bearing, as a lot of the financing / donations depend on physical progress. At present, we have approx £425,000 of the £1.2 million required.

We also have a website established for more information this is http://www.masjid-e-noorul-islam.com , please visit the site and any comments / suggestions will be welcome.

The future Masjid............

This is a view of the current car park, and garden where the new Masjid will stand, Insha - Allah.

The new Masjid will be two storeys high, 43 metres by 23 metres, and look as above.

Finance wise, we have collected over £400,000, with another £200,000 promised by the members of the Society, so we should be half way there. But the rest will have to be collected in donations from far and wide, and will need alot of determined effort, duas, and Allah's infinite mercy and blessings. Once the foundations have been laid, and the floors, and steelwork in place (insha - Allah before Ramadan this year), we will start to go round the various cities in the UK and make appeals to all Muslims for their help financially, and through their duas.

We appeal to all to remember this project in their duas, especially at auspicious times e.g. after farz salaat, on fridays, and those fortunate enough to visit the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madeenah, to remember us at all the auspicious places there.

Insha-Allah, with your duas and help, Allah's mercy will shower us with his blessings, and what is on paper, and in our minds, will become a reality. Remember, in Hadith it says (to the effect) that whosoever builds a House of Allah on earth, solely for His pleasure, Allah will build for him a Palace in Jannah.

May Allah accept our humble efforts.

The first 'dig' 2nd April 2007

Alhumdolillah, we had the first 'dig' on site on the 2nd April 2007. I say first 'dig' because it is not actually the first foundation dig, but the start of any 'physical' work. Lets rewind and give you a quick resume of progress to date...........

The Society got planning permission to build a new Masjid, costing approx £1.2million, on the car park adjacent to the current masjid. This was done in July 2006 after nearly two years of planning. Some conditions were placed on the project, and a lot of work has been going on in the background, e.g. detailed design, sourcing of the Dome and Minarets, etc. Also we had to redesign the internal layout due to correct orientation of the Qibla (direction of Makkah, Saudi Arabia). One of the conditions was that the ground had to be tested for any contamination and ground gas. This contract was given to a company called Worms Eye, in Burnley Lancs. They arrived on site on Monday April 2nd and the picture above shows the first breaking of ground.

The site investigation was digging 'boreholes' in 7 locations and extracting the soil etc to see the make up of the land, these samples were taken away for lab testing. Initial indications were that the land is in a better condition than expected. In 3 of the locations, gas monitoring equipment was left 'in situ' and readings will be taken over a period of 6 weeks.

Meanwhile, the detailed design work will continue. We have engaged a structural engineer, to design the structural (foundations and steel work) elements. A Building Services Engineer has been engaged to design all the 'services' i.e. electrical, gas, water, waste etc for the new masjid. Our resident designer, an architectural technician is co-ordinating all this, and finalising the detailed design, with a view to submission to Building Control of the local council in approx 8 - 10 weeks.

We hope to keep you updated with progress of the project, and would welcome any comments, suggestions etc. We also ask you to make duas for the project.

Yusuf Seedat - Project Manager, New Masjid.