Patrick Comerford
The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began last night, on the evening of Sunday 10 March, and today has been the first day of fasting. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. The annual observance of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts 29 to 30 days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.
In the days immediately before Ramadan, I visited the Central Jamia Mosque at 14-16 Church Street in Wolverton this week. It is the largest and newest of the Sunni masajids or mosques in Milton Keynes.
It was converted from an old post office building in 1995, with just one main room and an initial capacity for 350 people. Since then, the mosque in Wolverton has gone through many phases of development and progress. As the Muslim population of Wolverton grew over the past 30 years, the mosque has seen much structural change, extension and improvement, inside and outside.
A second larger room, the Shaikan Ahmed Alfarsi Hall, was built in 2003, bringing the capacity of the masjid to close to 1,600 people – 1,450 in the men’s section and 150 in the women’s section upstairs.
The mosque has a fairly large wudu area and also provides facilities for funeral preparation and body-washing. The small car park in the grounds has about 25 spaces.
Most Pakistanis living in Milton Keynes originate from the Azad Kashmir area and speak Punjabi, Mirpuri and Urdu. The Pakistani community in Milton Keynes is well dispersed, but there is a significant concentration in Wolverton.
At first, the khutbah or sermon was delivered in Urdu, reflecting the large Pakistani community that lives in Wolverton and the surrounding areas. However, an ever increasing number of non-Urdu-speaking Muslims have been living in the area, and the khutbah is now delivered in both Urdu and English, and English is the mosque’s primary language used.
The Central Jamia Mosque is a hub for the Muslim community in Wolverton. As it has grown and developed, it has become a welcoming and inclusive place of worship for a diverse community, fostering a sense of belonging and unity.
Nūr Academy is a children’s madrasah attached to the mosque. It has a full curriculum that includes Quran recitation and memorisation, Islamic law, prophetic biography and Islamic creed.
The Central Jamia Mosque is open to visitors throughout the year. It welcomes a large number of visitors from schools, colleges, universities and other institutions wishing to find out more about a mosque and about Islam.
The other Sunni mosques in Milton Keynes include the Milton Keynes Islamic and Cultural Association at South Row in central Milton Keynes, the Jamee Masjid in Bletchley and the Islamic Centre in Coffee Hall. The Shia Muslim community is served by the Zainabiya Islamic Centre in Granby, Bletchley, and there is also an Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Milton Keynes.
The mosque in Granby is in traditional style, with a dome and a minaret, but the other mosques are in buildings converted from other uses.
I have visited a variety of churches throughout Milton Keynes over the past two years, I have a long association with the synagogue, and I have been to the Japanese Buddhist monastery and pagoda at Willen Lake for a number of events, including the annual Hiroshima Day commemorations.
With the frightening rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia and religious hatred, it is important that we all get to know our neighbours well, and to reassure them of their valued place in our society and culture. Ramadan offers suitable opportunities to engage with our Muslim neighbours.
