Category: New Mosque

We are happy to announce that tours in Ramadaan of the New Masjid site will take place from:

10am – 12 noon on Fridays in Ramadaan in shah Allah.

If there is enough demand we can organise more visits in shah Allah.
The address for the New Masjid is:

71 Railway Street,
Gillingham,
Kent,
ME7 1YF

Please note that this is a construction site at the moment – Please do not think that we have already relocated to the above address.

As previously stated the normal Ramadaan activities – All 5 daily prayers, Sehri, Iftaar, Taraweh etc… will be carried out at Gillingham Masjid – 114 Canterbury Street – as per previous years. The Masjid will be open to both men and Women in shah Allah to carry out their Ibaadat should they wish to use it.

Question: Who is the developer managing the construction of the masjid?

The trustees are in consultation with our architect Umair Waheed – Atelier Architects.
Our technical team: Faheem Anwar (Chartered Building Surveyor), Gulam Nadat(QS), Shahid Khan (Structural Engineer).
Principal contractor : Ruprai Construction Limited.

Question: Has the new mosque ground floor been completed? If so, what would be the chance of moving into the new mosque?

The ground floor slab has been completed but in order to provide a functional masjid the whole framework of the building has to be constructed including all of the floors and the roof and the windows. For this we will need to raise over £1.5 million.

Question: How will it serve women better?

There will be dedicated prayer space for women which will more than meet their present, as well as future needs. They will have improved and dedicated ablution facilities and there will be space for women to meet and hold functions. There will be a rooftop garden in the ladies section. There will be a library whereby ladies’ will have access. The ground floor will house creche / nursery facilities.

The improved classroom facilities will benefit both children and adults, male and female.
There is potential for ladies to use the cafe to meet each other and in shah Allah we would like to offer gym facilities whereby ladies could have dedicated periods of usage if the demand is high enough.

Read the full article in KMWALTR #002

The current climate of the last two years has proved that we need a bigger and better Masjid that better serves the community, in both good times and bad. A place to pray, laugh, seek advice and comfort in trying times.

The current Masjid generates a lot of its funds for the year and for the new Masjid, via attendance. This has been greatly diminished for the last two years.

With changing times KMWA has to adapt to raise funds differently, part of this is the need to ask our community to donate a small amount on a regular basis, so that KMWA can continue raising funds even if people cannot attend the Masjid.

The first of the many planned initiatives is the Standing Order Campaign. Alhamdulillah we are an ever-growing community and as such we are now asking all adult members (male and female) to donate a minimum of £3.50 a week or £15 a month via standing order. If you are able to donate more per month, we encourage you to do so.

While this is a small amount and only equates to the cost of one item of indulgence a week, if all the members donate as a community, as one group, we can achieve greatness.

For example, if we had 3000 people giving £5 a week, that would equate to £780k per year and we can use gift aid to increase that by 20%, which in turn would mean that we could build our Masjid in 3-4 years.

Read the full article in KMWALTR #001

When we first started talking about fundraising and the new mosque, the story that came to mind was the story of Nuh AS – which has so many applicable messages to our project.

The prophet Nuh (known as Noah in English) is an important character in Islamic tradition.

Nuh was called as a Prophet to his people, sharing the universal message of Tawhid: believe in One True God (Allah), and follow the guidance He has given. Nuh preached this message patiently and kindly for many, many years. Nuh’s only concern, however, was to help the people and fulfil his responsibility, and so he persevered.

The Ark was a huge ship with no precedence. Nuh, Working and the few believers with him diligently over a great period of time, constructed a huge vessel, very probably unlike anything ever built before or since. Allah alone knows the truth about the magnitude of such a vessel. which he completed despite great difficulty.

People doubted him, said it couldn’t be built and didn’t get much help from his non Muslim community

We need to look to our own community to help build this New Mosque.

Read the full article in KMWALTR #001