The Markazi Masjid ("Central Mosque"), also known as the Dewsbury Markaz or ''Dar ul Ulum'' ("House of Knowledge"), is a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in the

Savile Town Savile Town is a suburb of Dewsbury, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, lying just to the south of the River Calder. It consists of late Victorian housing, which varies between long terraces, semi-detached and detached housing. The mills ...

area of

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. With a maximum capacity of 4,000, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe. It is the European headquarters of the

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encouraging fellow members t ...

movement, and also houses the Institute of Islamic Education (), an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day and boarding

faith school A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded fait ...

for boys aged 13–25 and one of the two main Islamic

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

in the UK. The mosque serves as a centre for Tablighi Jamaat's missionary activity throughout Europe. Construction of the mosque commenced in 1978 and was completed in 1982; the seminary was founded in 1980. The founder of Dewsbury Markaz was

Hafiz Patel Hafiz Mohammed Patel (1926 – 18 February 2016) was a British Asian Muslim religious leader known for his role in establishing the Tablighi Jamaat movement in the United Kingdom and for founding the Markazi Masjid, Dewsbury, Dewsbury Markaz mosque ...

, who remained its leading figurehead until his death in 2016.

Services

The Dewsbury Markaz is aligned with the Tablighi Jamaat movement and bases its services around its six principles. Daily services consist of

prayers Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

, talks and public lectures, and the organisation of ten person groups (''jamaats'') who undertake

proselytising Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

trips. As the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat in Europe, it has frequently been the location of its annual regional gathering (''ijtema''). The Markaz co-ordinates activities of the Tablighi Jama'at across the UK through liaison with five regional centres in Blackburn, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leicester and London and hundreds of UK mosques.

Controversy

Tablighi Jamaat and the Dewsbury Markaz has been accused of promoting

extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

and having links with

Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities f ...

in Britain;

Mohammad Sidique Khan Mohammad Sidique Khan (Urdu: ; October 20, 1974 – July 7, 2005) was a Pakistani-British terrorist and the oldest of the four Islamist suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bom ...

and

Shehzad Tanweer Shehzad Tanweer (15 December 1982 – 7 July 2005) was one of four Islamist terrorists who detonated explosives in three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings. 56 people were killed ...

, two of the 7 July 2005 London bombers, are reported to have attended prayers at the mosque. Both the allegation of extremism and specific claims that Sidique Khan or Tanweer visited the mosque are denied by its leaders. In 2006 the Institute of Islamic Education was criticised by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

for an "over-emphasis" on religious study to the neglect of the secular curriculum, leading to poor exam performance. The inspection in 2008 reported that school was satisfactory in that area. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' journalist Andrew Norfolk has argued the school contributes to

ethnic segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...

in the local area. In 2021 the school failed a further Ofsted inspection after a book, named 'Islam on Homosexuality' was found in the school library. In the book there are passages which call for execution of homosexuals.

References

{{authority control Buildings and structures in Dewsbury Independent schools in Kirklees Islamic schools in England Mosques in England Mosque-related controversies in Europe Religious buildings and structures in West Yorkshire Tablighi Jamaat Schools in Dewsbury

Services

Controversy

See also

References