Lakemba Mosque
Lakemba Mosque
Main page
1835205

Lakemba Mosque

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Lakemba Mosque

The Lakemba Mosque, also known as the Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib and officially the Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb Mosque, is a Sunni Islam mosque, located at 71-75 Wangee Road, Lakemba, in suburban Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is Australia's largest mosque. Owned and managed by the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), Lakemba Mosque and the LMA offices are situated contiguously at the same address.

A small house on the current site of Lakemba Mosque was purchased and used by the Lebanese Muslim Association from the 1960s as a place of worship. The house was demolished in the early 1970s and construction of the current building commenced. Construction lasted five years, with the mosque being completed in 1977. The opening of the mosque was attended by the former Prime Minister. Fundraising for the mosque took place both locally and internationally, with about half the funds coming from the Middle East and the largest single donation coming from the Saudi royal family. Lakemba Mosque was the second purpose-built mosque in Sydney and remains arguably Australia's most well-known and important mosque.

While historically Muslims of Lebanese heritage constituted the majority of the congregation, today people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Somali and South-East Asian backgrounds also attend in significant numbers, along with a small but growing number of converts. The overwhelming majority of the congregation is either of Hanafi or Shafi'i background.

Taj El-Din Hilaly

Hilaly served as Imam at Lakemba Mosque, which is run by the Lebanese Muslim Association. He was a controversial figure and made several controversial statements, as well as having promoted Islamic extremism on many occasions. Hilaly spread many antisemitic conspiracy theories during his lifetime, including claims that Western countries are controlled by Israel and claims that the Holocaust was a "Zionist lie". Hilaly was known for his antisemitic, anti-LGBT, anti-Western and Islamic supremacist views, as well as for his misogynistic statements. After a series of controversial statements on social issues, Hilaly retired from this position in June 2007 and was succeeded by Fehmi Naji.

Australian Jewish organisations have regularly accused Hilaly of antisemitism, a charge he denied. The charges began in 1988 when Hilaly delivered a lecture to a group of Muslim students at University of Sydney on the topic "The Disposition of Jews in the light of the Qur'an." He was quoted as saying:

The Jews' struggle with humanity is as old as history itself; the present continuing struggle with the Islam nation is a natural continuation of the Jews' enmity towards the human race as a whole. Judaism controls the world by...secret movements as the destructive doctrines and groups, such as communism, libertarianism, Free Masons, Baháʼísm, the Rotary clubs, the nationalistic and racist doctrines. The Jews try to control the world through sex, then sexual perversion, then the promotion of espionage, treason, and economic hoarding.

Hilaly did not apologise nor retract his comments, in which he accused Jews of "causing all wars.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.