Inauguration of the East London Mosque

Date: 
01 Aug 1941
Precise date unknown: 
N
End date: 
01 Aug 1941
Precise end date unknown: 
N
Event location: 

446, 448, 450 Commercial Road, London E1

About: 

This event marked the culmination of decades of planning and organisation towards a London mosque to serve the needs of east London South Asian Muslim lascars and other workers. The event was organised by the Jamiat-ul-Muslimin and attended by approximately 300 people, including several soldiers from the Indian Company of the Pioneer corps in the charge of Lieutenant C. S. K. Pathy, and representatives from a range of Muslim countries. Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, Chairman of the Executive Committee, gave a welcome speech which was followed by the official opening ceremony performed by Hassan Nachat Pasha and prayers led by Sheikh Hafiz Wahba, Minister of Saudi Arabia. Sir Ernest Hotson, Honorary Secretary of the Executive Committee, spoke on the origin and development of the London Mosque Scheme, and Said Amir Shah and Ahmaddin Qureshi spoke on behalf of the Jamiat-ul-Muslimin. Copies of a booklet entitled 'The Millat of Islam and the Menace of "Islamism"' written by C. Rahmat Ali of the Pakistan National Movement were distributed. There were also some non-Muslims from the South Asian community present, including C. L. Katial.

Organizer: 
Jamiat-ul-Muslimin
People involved: 

Sir Hassan Suhrawardy (Chairman of Executive Committee)

Sir Ernest Hotson (Honorary Secretary)

Sheikh Hafiz Wahba (Minister of Saudi Arabia)

Hassan Nachat Pasha

Said Amir Shah (on behalf of the Jamiat-ul-Muslimin)

Ahmed Din Qureshi (on behalf of the Jamiat-ul-Muslimin)

C. L. Katial

Published works: 

Pamphlet commemorating the opening ceremony of the East London Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre.

Secondary works: 

Ansari, Humayun, The Making of the East London Mosque: 1910-1951. Minutes of the London Mosque Fund and East London Mosque Trust Ltd (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)

Archive source: 

File IOR: L/PJ/12/468, African and Asian Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras