Harrow Central Mosque & Masood Islamic Centre — Attraction in London

I WAS HARRASED BY THE MALE SECURITY AT THIS MASJID AND SOMALIAN WOMAN WHO SITS HERSELF IN THE WOMEN PRAYER AREA NOT PRAYING BUT WATCHING EVERYONE AND TALKING LOUDLY. ONE OF THE MEN FOLLOWED ME TO THE DOOR WHEN I WAS LEAVING AND THEN 2 MORE MEN CAME. ONE GRABBED MY DRESS FROM THE BOTTOM WHICH WAS SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR FROM PEOPLE WHO CALL THEM MUSLIM TOUCHING THE CLOTHES OF A STRANGE FEMALE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE MASJID. ONE OF THE MEN WAS TELLING ME SHOW A PASSPORT IF I WANT TO STAY IN THE MASJID FOR SALAT ASR AS I CAME BETWEEN ZUHR AND ASR TIME. I TOLD HIM PASSPORT IS NOT NECCESSARY FOR SOMEONE TO PRAY IN MASJID. HE THEN THREATENED TO CALL THE POLICE AND HAVE ME REMOVED FROM THE MASJID FOR PRAYING. I CALLED MY FAMILY MEMBERS TO BRING MY PASSPORT. WHILE WAITING FOR MY MOTHER I WAS CONTINUOUSLY HARRASED BY THE WOMEN IN THE PRAYER AREA AND THEY WOULD WALK IN FRONT OF ME WHEN I WAS FINISHING MY SALAH I EVEN PUT A CHAIR IN FRONT OF ME TO PREVENT SOMEONE WALKING PAST BUT ONE WOMAN PART OF THE GANG THAT SITS THERE PUT HER HEAD BETWEEN THE CHAIR AND I WAS MAKING DUA TO HER HEAD IN THE MIDDLE AND TRYING TO IGNORE HER. I WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MASJID AREA AND THE FEMALE GANG WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE. AT ASR TIME I WAS DOING MY EVENING ZIKR WHEN THE WHOLE GANG WERE TALKING LOUDLY ABOUT POLITICIANS AND LAUGHING AMONG THEMSELF WHEN I WAS GETTING UP TO LEAVE ANOTHER 2 YOUNG FEMALE GANG MEMBERS APPROACHED ME AND STARTED HARRASING ME ABOUT MY PRESENCE IN THE MASJID. I WAS NOT ABLE TO PRAY THE JAMAAT. I HAD WALKED FOR 30 MINS FROM NORTHWICK PARK HOSPITAL TO THE NEAREST MASJID WHICH WAS THIS ONE AFTER HAVING STITCHES AND CAME FOR SOME PEACE AND ALSO AS THE TIME OF ZUHR WAS PASSING. I WAS HARRASED CONTINUOUSLY BY VARIOUS PEOPLE IN THIS MASJID UNTIL I CALLED POLICE OFFICERS IN AND WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE HOSPITAL AS MY STITCHES WERE BLEEDING AGAIN IN THE COMMOTION THAT OCCURED IN THIS PLACE AS THE GROUP OF WOMEN SURROUNDING ME. SHAME ON THE SOMALI ORIGIN AND OTHER GANG MEMBERS MAKING PLACES OF WORSHIP INTO THEIR PLAYGROUND. THE SOMALI WOMEN WERE SCREAMING AND SHOUTING AND RUNNING AROUND THE MASJID AREA WHEN I APPROACHED THEM. ALLAH HAS EYES AND THIS GANG SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE PRAYER AREA AND THE SECURITY REPLACED. GRABBING A NON MAHRAM FEMALES CLOTHING WHEN SHE IS ALONE AND LEAVING THE MASJID A GROUP OF 3 MEN IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY RELIGION. THIS IS HARRASMENT AND SHOULD...

I have been coming to this mosque for 6 years. It's large and spacious, and has a great women's section. It is clean and tidy, and so are the bathrooms, with lots of space to do wudu.

Alhamdulillah they have become quite good at ensuring children are in separate prayers room specific for families, and not the main prayer hall, so we can now focus on our prayer without hearing undisciplined little kids shrieking and running around in the middle of prayer as their uninterested mothers silently look on.

However many still women lack the adaab of the masjid and use it as a place to gossip, laugh and lounge around during Taraweeh. Many also try to ignore the no-children-in-prayer-hall room and insist on bringing their undisciplined children to disrupt everyone's prayer. This Ramadan, women were even FIGHTING and threatening to hit each other! I have never seen anything like it. If people come to the mosque to do worship and contemplate, respect this and either yourselves and your children keep quiet or simply LEAVE.

Respect to the security officers who worked hard to combat these issues this year, as well as standing by the doors every night to keep the worshippers safe. However the masjid board themselves are very aloof and difficult to get a hold of. They also like to follow their own cultural practices like praying Eid salah on a separate day from everybody else and saying duas in URDU for the majority of the night despite many people coming from non-Asian backgrounds. This is by far my least favourite thing. It is so awkward sitting there having no idea what the imam is saying but still being expected to say 'ameen'.

In Ramadan, they also spend a very long time asking for donations, delaying the prayers to an astonishing extent. And I mean AGES. So I recommend you bring a copy of the Quraan with you so you can spend the time in a...

I went for the Friday prayer (jumua), the talk was ok, prayer happened as it should then as soon as we finished and said salam, the speaker picked up the microphone and started making his own dua loudly, disturbing worshipers who try to follow the tradition of engaging in the prescribed post prayers dhikr. Some people stand up and pray their optional prayers and are too disturbed by the lengthy and loud speaker's voice, and so are those who try to read some Qur'an. I understand that some people have their own practices but they should keep them to themselves and not disturb others that come for the purpose of worship and not listing to chants and someone else's prayers. I couldn't find peace and finish my prayers properly, i waited until Asr (next prayer time), prayed and left while the speaker now has moved into loudly chanting praises of the prophet PBUH. If you do love him so much, then follow his practices and don't make up your own and force it onto others. We as a community donate money to upkeep the place so don't treat it as your own house. Very very...