The Shah Jehan Mosque, Woking

Woking Mosque

Emperor of Ethiopia visiting Woking Mosque

Woking Mosque in 1915

Opened in 1889, the Shah Jehan Mosque is the oldest purpose built mosque in Britain. It was commissioned by Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner to provide a place of worship for Muslim students at the nearby Oriental Institute.

Much of the financial cost was born by the Begum Shah Jehan, ruler of Bhopal State, India. The building was designed by the Victorian architect WL Chambers and built in Bath and Bargate stone. Its traditional Indo Saracen design has a dome, minarets and courtyard, for which the architects used the 'Art Arabe' in the India Office, British Library, as reference.

Following Leitner's death in 1899 the Institute and the mosque closed. Through the efforts of the first Muslim missionary to Europe, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din the mosque reopened in 1913 as the headquarters of the Woking Muslim Mission. It remained the focus for the development of Islam in Britain's for the next fifty years. Although people connected with the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement ran the mission, it was supported by all other sections of Muslims. The Mission published the first English translation of the Qu'ran in 1917 and the influential Islamic Review until the mid-sixties. A number of British aristocrats converted to Islam and the mosque attracted visits from royalty and prominent Muslim from around the world. The visitors' book contains many illustrious signatures including that of the Shah of Persia. There are many local people who remember the streams of visitors walking along Oriental Road to the Mosque for the major festivals. In March 1960 over 4,000 Muslims gathered in the grounds of the Mosque to celebrate the festival of Eid Al Fitr.

During the 1960s as Muslim immigrants arrived in large numbers new mosques were built to meet their needs. Woking's Muslim community grew, many from Pakistan, and in 1968 Sunni Muslims took over the running of the mosque, appointing the President of Pakistan as Chairman of its Trust. Now a Grade 11 listed building the Shah Jehan Mosque is the focus for Muslims in the area and plays an important role in the community life of the town. It continues to welcomes visitors and worshippers alike.

The Lightbox (formerly Woking Galleries) is bulding a new museum and arts centre for Woking due to open in the summer 2007. The town has a history of cultural diversity reaching back over a hundred years. The Shah Jehan Mosque built in 1889 was the first purpose built mosque in Britain. Brookwood Cemetery has the oldest muslim cemetery opened in the 1890s. While the Muslim Burial Ground on Horsell Common is a unique monument to the muslim soldiers of the Indian Army who lost their lives in World War 1.
Please contact The Lightbox, email:info@thelightbox.org.uk, tel: 01483 725517, website: www.thelightbox.org.uk