Abbey Mills Mosque

Masjid-e-Ilyas
(Abbey Mills Mosque)
Entrance to the mosque site
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam[citation needed]
Location
Location	Stratford, London United Kingdom
Geographic coordinates	51°31′44″N 0°00′07″E / 51.529°N 0.002°E / 51.529; 0.002
Architecture
Architect(s)	Allies and Morrison
Type	Mosque
Style	former industrial building
Capacity	2500

The Abbey Mills Mosque, also known as the London Markaz or Masjid-e-Ilyas, is a temporary mosque located in Stratford, east London, accommodating around 2,500 people.^[1] Plans were made to expand the capacity of the mosque to what would have been the largest religious building in Britain – three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral – and one of the largest mosques in western Europe.^[2][3][4] For this reason the proposed building is often informally referred to in the press as the "mega-mosque".^[4] The mosque extension was to have been built by Tablighi Jamaat, near the site of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen, Tablighi Jamaat's charitable trust, has been the owner of the site since 1996.^[5] The Tablighi Jamaat website devoted to the mosque places the maximum capacity at 12,000 worshipers.^[6]

The plan sparked controversy for various reasons, including its initially reported size and the possible chemical contamination risk associated with the site.^[7] Mosque officials are engaged in resolving the controversies, as well as countering the perception implied by the term "mega-mosque".^[8] Public response to the mosque and associated controversies has included on-line petitions, various public talks, debates, speeches and various demonstrations.^[9]

In February 2010, Newham Council tried to shut down the existing temporary facility. This was overturned on appeal and a two-year extension granted for the use of the site. In 2012, Newham Council refused permission for the plans and following appeals in 2015 and 2018 is looking to demolish the site so it can be developed for residential and commercial purposes.