The mosque that will be built at Dhannipur, 25 km from Ayodhya, in lieu of the demolished Babri Masjid whose site was handed over to the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust for the construction of a Ram Temple, will be named Mohammad Bin Abdullah.
Arshad Afzaal Khan & India Tomorrow
AYODHYA/MUMBAI— The design and name of the proposed masjid at Dhannipur, 25 km from Ayodhya, which was to be a replacement for the demolished 15th century mosque, has been changed.
The Masjid would now be named ‘Mohammad bin Abdullah’, including names of the Prophet and his father Abdullah.
However, in local popular parlance, people refer to the proposed mosque as ‘Masjid-e-Ayodhya,’ reminding the people that the new mosque is a replacement for the Babri Masjid that once stood in its magnificent glory at Ayodhya before its illegal demolition in December 1992 by a fanatic Hindu mob.
The previous design was simple and without any minaret. It will now be built on the pattern of grand mosques in India and other countries. It will have high minarets and big domes.
The proposed mosque will be built over five acres of land awarded by the Supreme Court through its Ayodhya verdict in 2019. The apex court through its verdict had transferred 2.77 acres of the Babri Masjid site to the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust for constructing a Ram Temple despite all evidence about ownership of the land being in favour of the Babri Masjid. The apex court also held that the mosque was demolished illegally.
Giving this information about the change in design and name of the proposed mosque, Zufar Farooqui, chairman of Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation and Ayodhya Masjid Trust, who is involved in building the Dhannipur mosque complex, said, “The new design has been prepared by Pune-based architect Imran Sheikh which was finalized on Thursday in a meeting held at Mumbai. The meeting was organized by BJP leader Haji Arafat. This mosque will be bigger in size than the previous mosque design and will accommodate more than nine thousand Namazis at a time. The meeting was held under the banner of All India Rabta-e-Masjid (AIRM), a Mumbai-based organization.”
The meeting was attended by about one thousand clerics of all sects including Sunni, Shia, Barelvi, and Deobandi, and representatives from all political parties, Farooqui said.
Announcing the mosque’s name, Haji Arafat Shaikh, former chairman of the Maharashtra state minority commission, said that the massive mosque will accommodate 9000 worshippers at a time. Its five minarets will symbolize the five pillars of Islam; namely, Shahadah(profession of faith), Salat or daily prayers, Roza(fasting), Haj, and Zakat. Its five gates will be named after Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and his four Caliphs – Hazrat Abu Bakra, Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Usman, and Hazrat Ali.
“It will be more beautiful than the Taj Mahal,” said Shaikh.
Shaikh said that ulema of all sects have agreed on the name of the mosque. Farooqui added that Maulana Abdullah Ibn Qamar of Rabta-e-Masajid and other ulema had agreed on the name and the mosque would symbolize the unity, and integrity of India.
Shaikh also gifted the first brick to Farooqui and added that the foundation will take place soon. He invited all Muslims to come forward and contribute to the funds generously. “Funds will not be a problem. Even a daily wager and a rickshaw driver will contribute to the Masjid funds,” said Shaikh.
“We will build a three hundred-bed charitable cancer hospital. Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman of International pharma company Wockhardt Group, has agreed to establish and run the hospital on a charitable basis”, Farooqui told this scribe.
“However, the design of the hospital prepared by Professor SM Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia University will remain the same and the museum, research centre, and library will remain dedicated to the great freedom fighter of the 1857 revolt Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi,” said Farooqi.
A couple of months ago, the Masjid Trust started a fundraising campaign in different states of the country. Farooqui said, “We will soon start the construction of the proposed mosque.”
However, the maps of the proposed mosque and hospital are still with the Ayodhya Development Authority as the Masjid Trust has to pay Rs. One crore to the Authority as Development charges to get the map released from the Authority. The state government of Uttar Pradesh has given all necessary NOCs regarding the construction of the Mosque and hospital.
The Babri Masjid was demolished by a mob of Hindus on December 6, 1992, in the presence of security forces when Congress was in power at the Centre with PV Narasimha Rao as prime minister and BJP was in power in UP with Kalyan Singh as chief minister. However, the security forces did not take action to protect the mosque from the Hindu mobs that had assembled from all over the country. Senior BJP leaders including former deputy prime minister L K Advani and many of his party colleagues were present near the Babri Masjid and witnessed the demolition.
