Smethwick Jamia Mosque

The community previously met in a local mosque that held 700 but they outgrew it so they purchased the land for the new mosque in 2005. They extended it even whilst building it so it now has a capacity of 3,500 and has 3 prayer halls, 13 classrooms, several wudu (ablution) rooms and a women’s prayer hall. Alongside the prayer and madrassa facilities there are kitchens, community rooms, a funeral parlour and a nursery. Managing a building of this size is a huge task and there over 20 paid staff including imams, teachers, managers and administrators. There are also many volunteers who help run events and manage the building. The committee is all volunteers and includes men and women and they have a Futures Group to include young adults in the leadership of the mosque.

During the week there are lots of activities alongside the 5 daily prayers. There is a madrassa (classes for children) every day plus a food bank on Sunday, Lectures, Winter Warmth – a warm room and a hot meal and lots of school visits very from across the West Midlands including Hereford and Worcester.

Mazhar was involved in overseeing the building work and wanted it to be high quality as a gift for future generations. As a child he went to smaller mosques with his parents and remembers his father collecting from local Muslim families to fund the first mosque they attended.

http://smethwickjamiamosque.co.uk/