"It is not a mosque, it is a prayer space," Sacranie said

CAIRO, October 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A sect whose followers are largely ostracized as non-believers by mainstream Muslims and outlawed by several Islamic countries, inaugurated Friday, October 3, what is described as western Europe's biggest "mosque", with representatives of the Muslim community dismissing it as "a prayer space" and "not a mosque."

The seven-year project has been achieved by Ahmadiyya Qadianiyya, a sect that claims 20,000 followers in Britain, said the Independent.

It was built to overlook the terraced Victorian housing of the quiet town of Morden, will be able to house 10,000 people, with 4,000 able to fit inside two segregated prayer halls, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the so-called fifth "worldwide supreme head" of the sect opened the "mosque", which features two towering minarets, a library, three conference rooms, a gym and a dome 23 meters (75.4 ft) high.

"We built the very first London mosque in 1924," said Rafiq Ahmad Hayat, head of Britain's Ahmadiyya community before the ceremony.

"This time we have produced the largest and most sophisticated mosque in Britain to serve as a landmark for the next century."

In its full splendor in a light industrial and commuting suburb, Baitul Futuh "mosque", whose name means House of Victories, knocks Europe's biggest mosques west of Geneva - in London and Birmingham - into second and third place, said the Guardian.

The 14 million euros (16.4 million dollars) construction cost was raised entirely from individual donations, AFP quoted as saying Basharat Nazir, spokesman for the sect in Britain.

"We are the renaissance of Islam. We stand for moderation," he claimed of  the sect with its non-belief in jihad.

Not Muslims

Considered heretics in Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya movement was founded in the western Indian town of Qadian in 1889 by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Contrary to the basics of Islam, the sect followers believe that the last prophet was not Muhammad (PBUH), but the movement founder, who alleged he was the Messiah, whose advent was awaited by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The group is also infamous for its ties with Israel, which helped the former build centers and schools as well as print books to be circulated across the globe.

Muslims consider the movement blasphemous, not least for questioning that Muhammad is the last prophet as laid out in the holy Qura'n.

"They are not Muslims, full stop. It is not a mosque, it is a prayer space," averred Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain.

"These people are not allowed to go in Saudi Arabia" to visit Islam's holiest sites, he maintained.

"They've got support from people who want to create confusion in Islam," charged Sacranie.

Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of Britain's Muslim parliament, agreed: "I'm sure most people think they are not part of Islam. They don't recognize them."

On Thursday, October 2, the Guardian quoted the Muslim Council of Britain as saying it did not regard the building as a mosque or considered Ahmadis to be Muslims.

Britons Angered

Muslims aside, the construction of the "mosque" has also put the backs of local residents up, as was the case with the enormous Neasden Temple, the largest Hindu temple outside India that opened in a northwest London suburb in the mid-1990s.

"I'm against it," said one shopkeeper of the "mosque".

"When they hold their big meetings you can't park. And they wouldn't let us build churches in their countries, would they?"

Scott Spilman, a 20-year-old technical manager with the London Underground, agreed: "It's disgusting. We were just told that it was happening."

But Nadhim, a member of the Ahmadiyya community who has just moved in opposite the "mosque", argued: "It's a good thing because there's a large Ahmadi community here."