The Islamic Centre of England Ltd (ICEL) is a religious and cultural institution linked to the Iranian government [1] [2] at 140 Maida Vale, London, [3] whose mission is "to provide services to members of the Muslim community, in particular, and the wider community at large", focusing on religious guidance and cultural issues. [4] It was founded in December 1995 and opened officially in November 1998. The premises are a former cinema that is a listed building.
 |
The centre was founded in 1995 under the supervision of Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, who was its first director, [5] and opened officially in November 1998. [4] It describes itself as an educational centre for those who wish to increase their knowledge of Islamic principles and cultural values and therefore, helping to strengthen the social structure of the community. In addition to religious services, the centre provides counselling and support in all areas of family life. [6]
The centre is run as a UK Private company limited by guarantee as Islamic Centre of England Limited. Its Governing Document requires that at all times one trustee be a representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran. The financial accounts filed at Companies House show that as 31 December 2016 the company has reserves (i.e. money in the bank or quickly accessible) of £4.4M; and that during the year grants were passed to Islamic centres in Glasgow, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds. Propagation of Islam is the main activity. [7] [1]
The Islamic Centre of England has a daily congregation of 50-100 people.[ citation needed ] It is open 365 days a year[ citation needed ] and holds programmes in English, Arabic, Persian and Urdu. [8]
The centre is led by 3 directors, one of whom is a woman. Abdul Hussein Mo'ezzi is a former director and imam. [9] [10]
A representative of the church was involved with Benedictine-Shia inter-religious dialogue in 2017, [11] and another presided over a Christian Muslim Forum that year. [12] On 18 February 2018, the centre participated in the Visit My Mosque open day. [13] [14]
In January 2020 the trustees of the Centre allowed a candlelit vigil to be held at its premises in response to the assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was subject to financial sanctions by HM Treasury for terrorism and/or terrorist financing. [15] Further investigation found that the mosque had provided a platform for speakers who publicly supported Iranian backed violence in the Middle East. [7] [2] This led the Charity Commission to issue an Official Warning under section 75A of the Charities Act 2011 to the Islamic Centre, regarding misconduct and/or mismanagement. [15]
In 22 November 2022 the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Islamic Centre of England Limited over serious governance concerns. The inquiry will examine amongst others the governance and administration of the charity by the trustees, including the identification and management of conflicts of interest and/or loyalty. [16]
On Wednesday, 24 May 2023, the centre was closed, pending further investigation by the Charity Commission. It has long been accused of being a mouthpiece of the Iranian government. [17] [18] [19] Various public investigations allegedly found evidence that the centre had been used as a base to harass dissidents and critics in the United Kingdom. [20] [21]
In July 2023, the centre was reopened, following its compliance with several insurance requirements while the Charity Commission's inquiry continued. [22] [23]
The centre is housed in the former Maida Vale Picture House, a 1,001-seat cinema designed by Edward A. Stone (one of his earliest works) [24] which opened as the Picture Palace on 27 January 1913. [25] The building has two copper-topped towers and a central dome; the auditorium, with oak walls decorated with gilded plaster, [24] originally had a small circle with curtained boxes, and an entrance vestibule with a marble floor and an open fire, with a tearoom above it. Provincial Cinematograph Theatres acquired it in 1920 and renamed it the Picture House in 1923. It was in turn acquired in 1927 by Associated Provincial Picture Houses, who reopened it that September with a new organ, and in 1929 by Gaumont British Theatres, who closed it in November 1940 because of the Second World War. In 1949, after alterations, it was reopened by Mecca Dancing as the Carlton Rooms, a ballroom which was the location of BBC dancing broadcasts. It was converted again into a bingo club [26] in 1961 and became a Grade II listed building in 1991. [27] Jasmine Bingo, the then operator, closed it in 1996. [25]
The centre is also linked to two educational establishments at 133 High Road, Willesden, London.
Mohammad Ali Shomali, Imam of the Centre since 2014, [30] [9] in November 2016 at Hawza Ilmiyya appointed as Internal Manager Mirza Mohammed Abbas Raza, [31] [32] who then became sole Director of the Islamic College in November 2017. [33]
The Islamic Centre of England publishes Islam Today, a monthly magazine [34] and jointly publishes Message of Thaqalayn , a scholarly journal, with a publisher in Qom, Iran. [35]
The Finsbury Park Mosque, also known as the North London Central Mosque, is a five-storey mosque located next to Finsbury Park station close to Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium, in the London Borough of Islington. It serves the local community in Islington and the surrounding boroughs of North London, and it is registered as a charity in England.
Najaf, is the capital city of Najaf Governorate in central Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam and one of its spiritual capitals, as well as the center of Shia political power in Iraq. It is the burial place of Muhammad's son in law and cousin, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, and thus a major pilgrimage destination for Shia Muslims. The largest cemetery in the world (Wadi-us-Salaam) and the oldest Shi'a Islamic seminary in the world are located in Najaf. Due to Najaf's position as a holy city in Shia Islam, it is also referred to with the honorific name Najaf al-Ashraf.
A hawza or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah is the collective term for a madrasa where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The London Central Mosque is an Islamic place of worship located on the edge of Regent's Park in central London.
Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2021 Census recording just under four million Muslims, or 6.0% of the total population in the United Kingdom. London has the largest population and greatest proportion (15%) of Muslims in the country. The vast majority of British Muslims in the United Kingdom adhere to Sunni Islam, while smaller numbers are associated with Shia Islam.
The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each year. It was formed in 1872 to provide affordable day-school (non-boarding) education for girls as The Girls' Public Day School Company (1872–1905), then The Girls' Public Day School Trust (1906–1998).
The Baitul Futuh is a mosque complex of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, situated in Morden, London. It is one of the largest mosque complexes in Europe. Completed in 2003 at a cost of £15 million, entirely from donations of Ahmadi Muslims, the Mosque can accommodate a total of 13,000 worshippers. The main mosque has a height of 23m above ground, and to maximise capacity the building extends below ground. Baitul Futuh is located in the south-west London suburb London Borough of Merton. It is situated next to Morden South railway station, 0.4 miles from Morden Underground station and one mile from Morden Road tram stop.
Muslim Aid is a UK faith based International Non-Governmental Organization. It acts as an international humanitarian charity with relief and development programmes in countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe. The charity works to support people suffering the effects of poverty, war, and natural disaster through both emergency relief and sustainable programmes designed to provide long-term support and independent futures to the most vulnerable communities around the world.
Green Lane Masjid & Community Centre (GLMCC), is a mosque in Birmingham. It has been a registered charity in England since 2008. The Masjid occupies a prominent corner site in Green Lane, Small Heath, Birmingham.
The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accommodating more than 7,000 worshippers for congregational prayers. The mosque was one of the first in the UK to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan.
The Abbey Mills Mosque, also known as the London Markaz or Masjid-e-Ilyas, is a temporary mosque located in Stratford, east London, accommodating around 2,500 people. Plans were made to expand the capacity of the mosque to what would have been the largest religious building in Britain – three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral – and one of the largest mosques in western Europe. For this reason the proposed building is often informally referred to in the press as the "mega-mosque". The mosque extension was to have been built by Tablighi Jamaat, near the site of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen, Tablighi Jamaat's charitable trust, has been the owner of the site since 1996. The Tablighi Jamaat website devoted to the mosque places the maximum capacity at 12,000 worshipers.
Didsbury Mosque is on Burton Road in West Didsbury, Manchester, England. The building was originally Albert Park Methodist Chapel, which opened in 1883, but closed in 1962 and was later converted into a mosque. It has an attendance of around 1,000 people. The mosque Sheikh is Mustafa Abdullah Graf.
The Islamic College is a London-based academic institution specialising in Islamic Studies at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels. Until March 2023 its degree programmes were validated by Middlesex University.
Ayatollah Sayyid Radhi Husayni Shirazi, also known as Razi Shirazi, was an Iranian Shia who was a jurist, philosopher and theologian. He was the great-grandson of the renowned Shia jurist, Mirza Shirazi, the pioneer of the Tobacco protest. He was the Imam of the Shifa mosque in Yousefabad.
In March 2018, Umar Haque, an instructor at the Islamic Studies class at Ripple Road Mosque's "Essex Islamic Academy" in Barking, London, was convicted of trying to recruit an "army of children" to launch a series of ISIS-inspired attacks on dozens of targets across London. Umar Haque had no formal teaching qualifications. Also convicted were Abuthaher Mamun, who was accused of research and finance help to Haque; and Haque's confidant, Muhammad Abid, who failed to alert the police.
The Najaf Seminary, also known as the al-Hawza Al-Ilmiyya, is the oldest and one of the most important Shia seminaries (hawza) in the world. It is located near the Imam Ali Shrine in the city of Najaf in Iraq, and also operates a campus in Karbala, Iraq. It was established by Shaykh al-Tusi, and continued as a center of study after the establishment of modern Iraq in 1921.
The Wembley Central Mosque is a mosque in the London Borough of Brent. The principal mosque in North West London, it is located on Ealing Road, Wembley, and serves the United Kingdom’s fifth largest Muslim community, which is predominantly Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Along with the adjacent Muslim Welfare Association, it can hold up to 2200 people.
Dudley Central Mosque and Muslim Community Centre is a mosque and community centre in Dudley, England. It was established to advance the religion of Islam for the benefit of public by holding of the Congregational Prayers and religious lectures according to the Sunni Sect of Islam.
Mohammad Ali Shomali is a Muslim scholar, academic, philosopher and theologian. His religious rank is Hujjat al-Islam.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright. 
51°32′7″N0°11′21″W / 51.53528°N 0.18917°W
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
