| The Watford Jamia Mosque building started in March 1983 and was opened for the first prayers Thursday April 25th 1985 after many years of hard work by the muslim community in Watford to raise money. The cost was around £350,000 for the land , buliding the mosque and to buy a house in Vicarage Rd for the Imam. Six hundred Muslims gathered for this great day in the life of their community. The carpet which is the same as the Regents Park mosque in London was donated by a Arab sheik. Before all this in 1978 enough had been saved by the community to buy a house in Queen's Road to convert into a mosque and teaching centre. But the noise of early morning and late night prayers upset the neighbours and the association was forced to look for alternative premises. The borough council came to the Musilms aid and premises in Addiscombe Road were set aside as a temporary measure. The Muslim community then raised more than £7,000 to refurbish Addiscombe Road building which was in a bad state to repair. |
The North Watford Mosque was opened on 18 April 2003. It operates the following services: crèche facility for the wider community; play area for young children; regular drop in sessions are held by Hertfordshire police for Muslims and non-Muslims who are not comfortable visiting a police station; an after school club for homework and language classes, open to all members of the community. North Watford Mosque receives no public finance and the mosque committee are proud that funding has been raised by the local Muslim community. |
