The Darul Ihsaan mosque in Barking, East London, has been granted permission by Barking and Dagenham Council to convert a £1 million house with a swimming pool into a new place of worship and community wellbeing facility. The new facility will include a mosque, gym, creche, adults and children’s education classes, and a mental health hub with health services and volunteering opportunities. The facility will be open from 8am until 10pm daily, and until 11pm on some nights.
Controversial cleric Ustadh Mahmood Almadani spoke at the Darul Ihsaan mosque on October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas massacre that killed around 1,200 people. Almadani reportedly prayed for the defeat of 'usurping Jews' and the triumph of Islamic fighters in a sermon on October 7, 2023. The Darul Ihsaan mosque hosted an event last year titled 'Hamas de-proscription and legal strategies against Zionism', which featured a lawyer acting on behalf of Hamas, Fahad Ansari.
The mosque is only a few minutes away from three synagogues. Local Jews and community leaders have been angered by the council's decision to grant planning permission for the mosque's expansion. Antisemitism campaigners have accused the Darul Ihsaan mosque of hosting a string of events where clerics expressed 'outrageous' views.
Polling by Campaign Against Antisemitism shows that 91% of British Jews do not think that the authorities are doing enough to tackle religious extremism.