A Muslim preacher in Manchester – Abid Hussain, above – has refused to stop using two joined-up semi-detached houses as a mosque and to knock down an ‘eyesore’ extension at the back.
The city’s council bosses say they will demolish it if he doesn’t – and then send him the bill.
Council officers issued a legal notice demanding he stop using the site as a place of worship and remove the extension, but he refused. They claim the mosque has caused problems for residents living nearby.
Hussain didn’t get planning permission for a “change of use” at the homes – or for the extension. He appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ court in January after refusing to take down the large extension at his religious education centre on Northmoor Road in Longsight.
He was handed a £5,000 bill after being found guilty of breaching building regulations – and told he could not use the site for prayer or community use because he didn’t have planning permission.
Now, despite an appeal being overturned, Hussain, 59, is refusing to knock the extension down or close the Masjid Siddique Akbar mosque.
Hussain claims it is his and others’ “public civil right” to pray there and that the council’s “threat” has caused:
A high level of anger in the local Muslim community.
He added:
They refused planning permission because of car parking and because it is in a residential area. Most mosques like this are in residential areas. There’s a lot of politics behind the decision. Around 300 to 400 people come here to pray.
If it is closed, where will the children go? It will mean a lot of trouble for them. The council needs to have sympathy. They’re trying to crush us.
In a video posted on the Manchester Evening News website, Hussain said his aim in life was to take youngsters from “the dark and negative side” and set them on a path to a life of religion.
A council spokesman said:
The city council has been in contact with a Manchester resident to resolve an on-going planning issue.
The Manchester Council of Mosques is working with the town hall to assist with the case.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn