The Prophet ﷺ said,

He who does not thank the people is not thankful to Allah.

[Abu Dawud]

In what seems like a flash, Ramadan has come and gone, and only Allah knows if we will experience another.

The East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks to the thousands of worshippers, volunteers and staff. Throughout the blessed month, we witnessed incredible generosity, dedication and sacrifice from our congregation and from everyone connected to the mosque, in ways that truly embodied the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that is at the heart of Islam.

We are grateful to everyone for following the instructions of our volunteers and staff in aiding the smooth running of the Mosque, especially during Tarawih and Tahajjud. This year’s Ramadan campaign message, “Heart Attached to the Mosque”, perfectly captured the spirit of the blessed month as worshippers returned to pre-COVID numbers, Alhamdulillah! Because of your connection to the mosque, the lively and vibrant atmosphere we have grown used to over the years has returned. The weekly footfall doubled to 64,000 during Ramadan, while during the odd nights the number of worshippers peaked at 7000.

We cannot express the joy we feel in seeing how deeply connected many of you are to the mosque, which is why we want to share and celebrate some of the amazing successes from Ramadan 2023:

• The mosque was able to serve over 30,000 iftar meals, Alhamdulillah! An unprecedented 1000 iftar meals were served daily to worshippers, reflecting the impact of the cost-of-living crises we see around us. We at the East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre are committed to doing whatever we possibly can to ease the pressure and burden on our community.
• In addition, over 40,000 Iftar meals were distributed through our charity partners around the world to the needy in Afghanistan, Syria, Bangladesh, Palestine, Yemen, and Lebanon.
• The mosque hosted 50 external charity collections during Zuhr and Tarawih prayers, raising nearly £200,000.
• Thanks to your ongoing support, the mosque was able to keep the vital food-bank service open to our community throughout Ramadan
• We were able to raise over a million pounds in donations and pledges from members of our congregation – around £500k in donations and pledges, and the remaining £700k in Qard Hasanah (interest free loans). Details of how the mosque uses donations is on our website here.
• We collected £103,000 of Zakat al-Fitr, which was then successfully delivered through our charity partners, to needy people in places such as Gaza, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey, Yemen and Lebanon, including the displaced Rohingya.
• You will be pleased to know that throughout the month of Ramadan, many of the amazing work carried out by our staff and volunteers were showcased in the media. You can view some of the stories here, here and here

Thanks to your ongoing support and the help from our partners, we have been able to meet the growing demands on the mosque. We are incredibly grateful for the trust that you have placed on us as we to continue to deliver on our promises.

Alhamdulillah, the next phase of the extension of the Mosque is on course. Details of the extension and ways to support the project can be found here. We expect the work to be completed over the coming year in time for next Ramadan, insha’Allah. The extension will increase prayer capacity for both men and women.

Work on the dome will be underway soon. Details of this essential work and ways to support the project can be found here. We hope to complete the work on installing a new dome over the coming year and have it ready for Ramadan 2024, insha’Allah.

None of this would be possible without your support. We are grateful for your ongoing generosity, without which it would be impossible to deliver the services and programmes to the community, and ensure that this House of Allah is preserved and well maintained not only for us but also for generations to come.

We ask Allah to accept our good deeds, Ibadah, Sadaqah, and fasting this year.

With love and Salaams,

Your brothers and sisters at the East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre