Tax payers' money to build an enormous mosque costing an estimated £100M - NO!
I don't know how each of you will feel about this but if you don't think it is a good idea it is very easy to cast a vote on the link at the bottom of the page to say so.
We need to act now before its to late. Deadline to sign the government petition is 18th July! 
Don't know if you have heard about this but Ken Livingstone is planning to use tax payer's money to build an enormous mosque costing an estimated £100M in the docklands.
Wouldn't it be better to spend the money on a new hospital or improved transport facilities. anything but such a scheme as this: The mosque will be BIGGER THAN ST PAUL'S!!! The plan is for the mosque to be so big so that people flying in from all over the world for the 2012 Olympics will see it as the biggest landmark in London , bigger than St Pauls, Westminster Abbey or Wembley Stadium.
The vote so far is 56 % in favour. It looks like the Muslim community in the UK is casting its vote in droves, and as so often happens the rest of us are burying heads in the sand...It is an undemocratic use of British Tax payers money, especially when our Churches that are 100's of years old get no government funding to keep their structures standing,and we are supposedly a Christian Nation.
To vote to 'Scrap the 'Mega-Mosque', please sign the official Government petition in the link below.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ScrapMegaMosque/
If you are in agreement with casting your vote please send it on to your friends.
garye
20 Comments
1. There is/was a vague plan for a mega-mosque, costing 300 million
2. Many Muslims (individuals, and organizations) oppose/d the plan, or support/ed it if and only if it represents/represented all Muslims, not just the group who want to built it (who are, I believe, extremist).
3. If it goes forward (and there appear to be no plans lodged as yet) it will be funded by donations, mainly, it's thought, from the Middle East.
4. Ken Livingstone is said to have supported the idea (I can't find any impartial support for this, the newpaper site that might support it is down). But I quote Livingstone
Factually there is no proposal to use any public money at all for such a mosque; there is no link between plans for a mosque and the Olympics; and, as widely reported, there are actually no plans for a mosque on the scale claimed in the email.
5. Is the following true? It has also emerged today that similar false claims about the mosque relating to the online poll are being promoted by the British National Party on their website, describing it as ‘the biggest symbol so far of the Islamic colonisation of England’ and urging readers to ‘Please go to the Standard website and add your own ‘No’ vote. And please forward this email on to everyone in your address book.
http://www.thisislondon.c...or+huge+mosque/article.do
Here it is: Old Mega-Mosque Post
http://www.woyano.com/vie...ning-Standard-online-poll
*smug grin*
What is a Mosque?
The site is located at Abbey Mills in West Ham, and in close proximity to the London 2012 Olympic and regeneration sites. The project is for a new London Markaz - a multi-functional mosque with a school, offices, dedicated youth facilities, large dining and residential accommodation.
In its simplest form the spatial arrangement of a mosque is governed by the Quibla or direction of prayer to Mecca and lines of ‘Saf’ for the congregation. A mosque is a directional field and the first mosques were simply lines drawn in the sand. Our understanding of the mosque is drawn from ‘Hadith’ or interpretation of the Quran which we use as a methodology and the basis for the scheme. From Hadith, a mosque can be anywhere because, at the time of prayer, ‘The Whole Earth is a Mosque’1
The Islamic Garden The scheme is organized as an Islamic Garden, transposed onto modern day London. The garden consists of topographical layers of landscapes and activity. We see the Islamic Garden as a spatial narrative setting out the relationship between interior and exterior, or between zones of contemplation, ritual, ablution and congregation and prayer. At the centre of the garden between the school and the mosque we have placed an olive grove as a symbol for peace.
Dawat: An Invitation to Islam Central to the propagation of Islam is the principle of Dawat or Invitation to Islam. The project has adopted the idea of ‘Dawat’ by physically and metaphorically reaching out to provide large urban connections which invite people into the building from West Ham station, The Greenway and beyond. ‘Dawat space’ is an interstitial public space between the sanctum of the Mosque and the World outside. It is a place for Muslims and Non Muslims to interact, debate and promote a greater understanding between ideology, faith and humanity.
The Campus The multiple functions of the Markaz suggest highly adaptable space. The layout of the scheme avoids compartmentalizing activity by setting up zones where programs merge and overspill. The aim is to encourage unexpected conversation between the religious hierarchy and other users of the building in a campus-like environment conducive to debate.
Inflatable and Nomadic space and Islamic Geometry The scheme considers fluctuations in visitors and usage. Spaces can be extended in peak periods through the use of inflatable structures which temporarily cover outdoor areas to provide additional prayer space. The building, although firmly anchored, adopts the language of nomadic structures or tented cities. The structural system is formed by distorting traditional geometric Islamic patterns to form a fractal structural series. A system of overlapping ribs will be used with the rib pattern providing a new geometric decorative layer.
Water, Light, Sound and Sustainability Water, light sound and calligraphy are functional and decorative layers which describe the mosque. In the traditional mosque, the water pond in the courtyard is a requirement for abolition. Our ablution space overlooks The Channelsea River and forms an internal spiral water cascade connecting washing areas on three levels below. The call to prayer or azan is also highly evocative and the scheme will use echo and reverberation to enhance the azan and create atmosphere. The scheme will also draw light into the prayer halls thorough geometric patterns on the lattice roof structure and cladding. The overall emphasis will be to illuminate the leading Quibla wall facing Mecca. At night however, the mosque dome will emit light through translucent panels and appear to show have an inner glow emanating from within.
As an Islamic garden and a green building, the scheme will be emphasize recycling in line with Islamic teaching. The project is intended to be a prototype for sustainability and will incorporate Wind Turbine Minarets, Tidal Power, CHP and photovoltaic technology.
The confluence of landscapes, the movement induced by lines of saf and the varied geometry of the structure suggest that the project itself is a form of Islamic Calligraphy. Within this abstract matrix, by coincidence or otherwise the project can be seen from an aerial view to spell out Quranic verse. More directly, calligraphy will be used as a decorative layer to bind the various programmatic elements from the school to the mosque. It is conceivable that the entire Quran could be written on surfaces across the Markaz site, seamlessly linking the building and the program."
http://www.myaa-arq.com/
-Go to Projects, UK, Abbey Mills
(has some nice cgi fly-bys of the building)
Ali Mangera, of Mangera Yvars Architects (project lead)
http://www.thisislondon.c...or+huge+mosque/article.do
you would have found out that Mangera Yvars Architects were sacked from this mosque project a few months ago.
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Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)