Religion
Welcome to the EcoMosque
Published 05 June 2008
The hope is that the first ecomosque it will act as an inspiration and model for future mosques
A new mosque will be opening this month in Levenshulme, Manchester. Nothing unusual in that, except that al-Markaz al-Najmi Mosque is eco-friendly. It is built with recycled materials and generates part of its energy from solar panels. British mosques are not re nowned for their friendliness by any barometer, so this is an event worth celebrating.
What I can say about mosques in Britain with some certainty is that they are all hideously ugly. There are about 1,700 in total, and I've seen quite a few of them. The ones converted from churches and synagogues look out of sync, like square pegs in round holes. The purpose-built ones, like Birmingham Central Mosque or the Hanfia Mosque in Bradford, seem to me to be products of an imagination devoid of aesthetics.
And that is what they are: these masjids were built by a generation of elders more concerned with dubious piety and obscurantist modes of behaviour than grace or beauty. London Central Mosque, designed in 1969 by Sir Frederick Gibberd (who also designed Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral) and built at great expense from 1974, resembles a gold fish tank. Its gold dome looks like a panama hat, and its horseshoe balcony recalls a recital hall rather than a place of worship. These mosques are designed to be unfriendly to women. Most of them lack appropriate places for cultural or youth activities. And all of them fail to meet basic standards of sustainability. In other words, they reflect the unhealthy state of Britain's Muslim community.
What is worse is that Muslims want to build more places of this type. The emphasis is on bigger, uglier and louder. The controversial propo sal for a "mega-mosque" near the Olympic Village in east London is a case in point.
Fortunately, there are Muslims, most of them young, who recognise that mosques must evolve. If the Muslim community is to regenerate itself, its mosques will have to become much more than simply places of worship, devoted to particular sects to the exclusion of all others.
They have to provide Muslims living locally with a welcoming space for neighbourhood activities, social gatherings, teaching, counselling and lifelong education. They have to create a sense of identity and moral responsibility. They need to treat women with equality and dignity, not as lesser humans who have to be ushered in through the back door. They have to be able to cope with radicalised young people and be able to redirect their anger in positive directions. They have to be connected to mainstream British society and welcoming of outsiders.
This is a tall order, but it is the basic philosophy behind EcoMosque. Developed by Regenesis², a Muslim social enterprise based in Manchester, the EcoMosque concept aims to transform British masjids into dynamic and effective vehicles for social change. "The idea is inspired by the first mosque in Islam, built by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina as the hub for a thriving, socially conscious community," says Zahid Hussain, chief operating officer of Regenesis². Like the Prophet's mosque, EcoMosque emphasises self-reliance and social enterprise while adding the new goal of sustainability.
The first fully fledged EcoMosque will be built on the banks of the River Irwell at the University of Salford. The hope is that it will act as an inspiration and model for future mosques. It will also provide a framework that existing mosques could use to change and adapt in order to play a more meaningful role in society.
I am sure it will be resisted by the rusty generation, which feels more at home in ugly, isolated and sectarian places of worship. But EcoMosque is the kind of idea that young British Muslims will embrace and run with.
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