Why should the saudi government fund a tablighi masjid ?

It is unlikely that the Ministry of Islamic Affairs would fund such a project but it is possible that there might be private donations from some of the royal family. There are also many Saudi tablighis (who are, it must be said, quite different to their South Asian counterparts) and a lot of tablighis in other gulf countries.

Secondly RPG a masjid exclusively for women is silly considering that in traditionally women are not required to goto the masjid while men should offer prayers in Jamaat as far as possible

If you have men-only masjids then given that many women want and need to attend the masjid (as it may be the only means they have of interacting with other Muslims or they wish their children to grow up familiar with the mosque), the natural result of that is for women to establish female-only masjids. Given the situation in the UK, I’m surprised that this hasn’t happened already. I remember reading recently that a woman-only masjid was being built in Tamil Nadu, India. Obviously, this isn’t optimum but, as I said, this is the result of excluding women completely from the mosques.

Yusuf Smith said,
“From the air, the building will resemble “a prayer from the Qur’an”, which is somewhat inconsistent with its “environmental” credentials”..”

I dont see where the inconsistency lies but *shrug*.

I do however dislike the idea on the grounds of exposing quranic to filth.
(This is partially the reason I absolutely *hate* seeing quranic ayat as logos or decorations on clothing.. but I digress).

Not only dirt, bird droppings etc.. but any muslim hater can go and take a p**** against it or happily have their dog do.

Anyway – I just dont see the merits of it.. what is the rationale?? Is this what the quran was revealed for, for it to be treated this way?

HEy perhaps this is tablighis idea of ‘making the Word of Allah high’ .. *grin*

Secondly RPG a masjid exclusively for women is silly considering that in traditionally women are not required to goto the masjid while men should offer prayers in Jamaat as far as possible

Not being obligated to go and exercising the right to go are obviously not in contradiction.

As for women-only masjids per se, it is obviously novel. What of women-only study groups?

There are a number of legitimate objections to the proposal as it stands, most significantly the fact that the proposed building is a modernist eyesore; you can see a model of it here insha Allah. It looks nothing like any mosque seen anywhere else. From the air, the building will resemble “a prayer from the Qur’an”, which is somewhat inconsistent with its “environmental” credentials, such as locating it next to the Channelsea river to harness its tidal power.

There is also the question of who will be around to use the mosque once the Olympics have torn through town? The strong possibility is that the Olympics, if they are successful (and it’s a very big “if”) will cause that part of town to become gentrified, being as it is next to the Docklands, and many of the Muslims will be priced out of the local housing market. The district already has plenty of mosques.

Another objection is that money for a building like this will probably come from a source of oil money – like Saudi Arabia – and this will expand Saudi influence over the local community. It’s been known for imams to be threatened with losing their jobs (or actually to lose their jobs) for refusing to follow the Saudi line on issues like moonsighting. That will displease a lot of the more traditional Muslims (like myself).

On the other hand, the land, which is already used for the Tablighi markaz, is on the “Olympic belt” and it’s likely that the government won’t let it be used for normal local use; if it’s going to be a mosque, some sort of “Olympic showcase” is going to be required.