“I am a British Muslim. I was born in Barking. My parents are originally from Pakistan. I currently live in Ilford. I have though about moving further into Essex a number of times. One of the factors that I do look for is that there should be a mosque in the area because a practicing Muslim should try to pray as many of his five daily prayers in the mosque (its more meritorious than praying by oneself at home).

I am of the opinion that the mosque does not have to stand out like a sore thumb and should be consist with the local architecture. As far as I know there is no religious stipulation to have a dome or a minaret as high as burj al khalifa.

As far as people objections in terms of parking and traffic is concerned these are fair and objective reservations and as such should be addressed. The idea of having a mosque which disrupts other people or causes them difficulty is against the very ethos of Islam as a faith. The Muslims and the local council should work together and make sure that the impact of cars and traffic is looked at and minimised as much as possible. Islam says that removing something harmful from the pathway (pavement) is an act of charity, and as such is hardly going to condone the building of a mosque which causes others inconvenience!

Some people have made the tired old comment about ¿well we can¿t build churches in your country¿ well, my humble suggestion to these people will be that the Muslim world stretches from the coast of the Atlantic in Morocco to Malaysia exactly which part of the Muslim world are you referring to? Most of the Muslim countries that I have been to have Christian minorities and they live side-by-side with the Muslims in harmony. Have there been unpleasant episodes, yes, but are these are few (relatively speaking). On the whole these Christian minorities have lived with the Muslims in Muslim countries for centuries. I think it¿s fair to say if these Christian minorities were oppressed by the Muslims they would have done the logical thing and emigrated, but they haven¿t and that is a testament to the centuries old relationship between the two faiths.

Kind regards

Haroon”

“Well said Kev!! I think this is an absolutely shocking idea!! Look at Pilgrims Hatch.....i know the building that is being talked about and it is in my street. I will be furious as will my neighbours!!! There is limited parking so roads will be blocked or double parked, hardly the right public transport as no buses run up that street and the street itself is home to a lot of elderly!!! This is one of the worst ideas ive known!!!”

“NO definately NOT, this is Brentwood Essex England Not somewhere in Pakistan!”

“I recently went to see a production of 'Grand Hotel' at the Sir Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford, (named after the actor who starred in 'Reach for the Sky' ). I had a problem finding it on a Saturday night. Of the six different people I stopped to ask directions from in the centre of Ilford, one was Irish, one was of Oriental appearance, one was black and 3 were Asian. Although they were all polite and helpful not one of them knew where it was, only the Irishman had even vaguely heard of it. It was in fact, just around the corner. Finally when I arrived at the theatre, passing the Art exhibition in the foyer and the Bar and upon entering the Auditorium I couldn't help noticing that there was not one representative in the audience from a 'minority' group as far as I could see.( Perhaps this was because the theatre was packed and they couldn¿t get in, but I doubt it). Nor were there any on the stage.
The theatre group is open to anyone who can sing. The cast is not paid. They do it for the love of it.
I wonder, is it possible that we are not involving the majority of these newcomers in our culture sufficiently, or could it be that they themselves are not interested in it?
Are they perhaps only concerned with bringing their own customs and way of life with them and preserving them within our infrastructure?

I note with dismay that the Kenneth More Theatre is now earmarked for demolition and redevelopment, to be replaced by a 'Community Centre' which will be more suited to the 'needs' of the community.
I invite other contributors to speculate upon the implications of this decision, upon who has taken it, of whom Ilford¿s local decision making authority consists and how one day we ourselves here in Brentwood may be faced with similar situations.
The construction of a Mosque here in Brentwood will lead eventually to a future application for and establishment of a Muslim faith school. This would make Brentwood an attractive proposition and provide the core of a future ethnic community, an incentive for migration to this district from other areas. Before long the very nature and atmosphere of this area would begin to change . We have some immigrants here already and as far as I can see they are making a positive contribution to our town, keeping our cars clean at Sainsbury¿s and providing us with the Big Issue outside Marks & Spencer in the High Street and Tesco¿s in Shenfield, but they are not overwhelming in numbers ¿ yet!
But, why would we need an additional influx of people in order to ¿enrich¿ Brentwood?
Resistance to this possibility, which is obvious on this website and elsewhere, has nothing to do with fear of the unknown or fear of change. Some commentators are speaking from experience, having already seen the total detrimental transformation of once traditional communities elsewhere. They just wish to preserve the integrity , tradition and atmosphere of the town in which they live.
This point of view may well be condemned as racist but it is not. It is not an incitement nor a call to arms, It is simply an opinion held by many people.
If people with the opposite viewpoint desperately wish to live in a multi ethnic environment they have the option of moving to Hackney, East Ham, Leyton, Barkingside, Ilford or anywhere which already has the cosmopolitan atmosphere they crave.
However, please don't force me and many others to have to move further afield in order to find somewhere traditional to live.
I am reasonably happy with Brentwood as it is.”

“To the reader who commented that Islam is the second largest faith next to Christianity in Brentwood, that's a load of rubbish! Hinduism is by far the second largest faith, so why do they not clamour for a temple to be built? Simple: they know that there is already adequate provision in Essex. The same logic should apply here.

Let us not forget that when they first built the East London Mosque on the Whitechapel Road, they wanted women to walk on the other side of the street during prayer. That is an irrefutable fact.”

“at least the big issue lady will have somewhere to go other than her house that she doesnt pay for”

“why why why would you a mosque in brentwood.

as far as i am concerned brentwood is the only place left in essex where muslims and islams dont run the place.

so dont even think about changing that”

“It is well known that muslims unlike other religious adherents are more loyal to their religious rituals. However, I am not sure if the building of a mosque for a 200-muslim community is the right thing for all inhabitants of Brentwood. They can use other mosques in Essex, especially in the areas were there are more muslims.
In addition, I think that the Brentwood authorities should consider eagerly not only the idea of building the new mosque, but also the other necessary undertaking- restoring ancient churches in Brentwood, some of which are tumbledown. I guess the majority will support this last idea and finally the authorities will do more use.”

“Warren Raymond - you live in Sydney, Australia, so I'm not sure why you're interested in what happens in Brentwood.
I'm happy to argue ideology or theology but this has nothing to do with either. What you and some other posters are failing to realise is that this isn't a question of me supporting Islam, Judaism, Satanism or the Klingon faith, it's a matter of simple common decency in the use of this message board. If someone has a point to make, they can do so in a polite and sensible fashion, rather than resorting to the easy option of abuse and insults.
There's no censoring here for political correctness, pro-Islamic bias etc, just in the name of good taste!
I've yet to see anything constructive from Warren Raymond other than the usual hate-ridden cliches.
I'm a white, indigenous Brit, brought up a Christian but no longer practicing this or any other religion, so please stop referring to me as a Marxist apologist for evil, assistant chief Dhimmi etc, it's just not cricket.”

“would there be as much press coverage on a church being build in the brentwood area? i believe not. I see this as a way to allow islamic teachings/worship to be less alienated (excuse some of my spelling) thus the musilm community will be become part of our social structure, then people would not see the building of a mosque to be a problem.

Who among you here that are against the building of this mosque are truely 100%, church going, religious people? i would guess not many, thus really you should see no real problem with the mosque.

however i think the problem is more people (not just in essex) see it as a cultural invasion, that england (or really Britain) is losing our identity to another cultre, truth is we have, to american cultre. The world is now more of a global village, beliefs from one nation spread to the world.

just like the crusades when we spread christianity to the muslims in about 1180 AD

just learn to accept change, no harm will come from this mosque.”