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.