The Muhammad bin Abdullah Masjid, also known as the Ayodhya Mosque, is a planned

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, not commenced, that is to be located in

Dhannipur Dhannipur is a village in Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh, India. In February 2020, the government allotted of agricultural land at Dhannipur in Ayodhya municipal corporation to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board as an alternative s ...

, in the

Ayodhya district Ayodhya district (formerly Faizabad district) is one of the 75 districts in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ayodhya is its administrative headquarters. The district occupies an area of , and had a population of 2,470,9 ...

of the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, India. The site was designated by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

following its verdict on the

Ayodhya dispute The Ayodhya dispute is a political, historical, and socio-religious debate in India, centred on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The issues revolve around the control of a site regarded since at least the 18th century amo ...

case that allocated land previously used for a mosque to be used for a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

. The construction of the mosque and associated complex is managed by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) trust. The proposed mosque is almost away from the

Ram Mandir The Ram Mandir (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Shri Ramlalla Mandir, is a partially constructed Hindu temple, Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, t ...

, a Hindu temple, the former site of its predecessor, the

Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid (ISO: Bābarī Masjida; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque located in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace ...

. Dhannipur is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

located in Sohawal tehsil. , construction of the mosque had not commenced.

Construction

The project was formally launched by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board by hoisting the national flag and planting saplings on

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

of 2021. In addition to the mosque, the complex is planned to include a hospital, museum, library, a community kitchen which can feed a maximum of 2,000 people per day, and an Indo-Islamic cultural research centre and publication house. A groundbreaking ceremony for the planned mosque was held on 26 January 2021. The planned mosque was officially named as Ahmadullah Shah Mosque, as an honour to the leader of Indian Independence war of 1857, Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah, but was later renamed in honour of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. An initial

futuristic The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently e ...

design by S. M. Akhtar, without domes or

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s, was rejected in 2023, and Imran Shaikh became the project architect. His design blended traditional

Indo-Islamic architecture Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establi ...

, including a dome and five minarets, with modern building styles. In September 2024 it was reported that construction had not commenced due to lack of funds and community antipathy towards the proposed mosque. The IICF sought to have restrictions lifted so that it could receive donations from overseas, restricted by the

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act The Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act, 2010 is an act of the Parliament of India, by the 42nd Act of 2010. It is a consolidating act whose scope is to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by ...

. Construction of the mosque, 300-bed hospital, museum, library, and associated facilities is estimated to cost 300

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

. Around 40% of the donations received by the Trust were given by

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, while

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

contributed 30%. The remaining 30% are corporate donations. The Trust secretary, Athar Hussain, confirmed that the Trust had received 40

lakhs A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ...

in donations.

Controversies

Shariyat law disagreement

The

All India Muslim Personal Law Board All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in India that represents the interests of Muslims in matters of personal law. It was formed in 1973 with the objective of protecting and promoting the appli ...

has stated that the construction of the mosque is against the Waqf Act and is illegal under Shariyat law. AIMIM chief

Asaduddin Owaisi Asaduddin Owaisi (born 13 May 1969) is an Indian politician who is serving as the third and current president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) since 2008. He is a five time Member of Parliament (India), Member of Parliame ...

also claimed that donating money for construction and praying at the mosque is

haram ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...

(forbidden) according to Islamic principles, to which the Mosque Trust replied that "serving humanity is not haram".

Ownership dispute

Two sisters from Delhi filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court, claiming ownership of the land allotted for the mosque along with of surrounding land, which they claim was given to their father at the time of partition.

References

External links