2 Glynrhondda Street

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Al-Manar Center, 2 Glynrhondda Street

Located at 2 Glynrhondda Street in Cathays, Cardiff , Wales , United Kingdom , is a mosque that was temporarily considered the first mosque in Britain due to a transcription error in the official registers.

Structure and use

The building at 2 Glynrhondda Street is a row corner house built in the late 19th century with no particular architectural features. It was originally used as a residential building.

In 1991 the building was included in the list of sacred buildings. The mosque now housed in the building claims to have been founded in 1992 and is called the Al-Manar Center . Another name for them is Masjid-e-Abu Hurairah ('Abu-Hurairah Mosque'), after Abu Hurairah , a companion of the Prophet Mohammed .

First mosque in Britain

Until a few years ago, the building was considered the seat of the first mosque in Great Britain, which, according to the official register of sacred buildings, had been entered as the Place of Meeting for Religious Worship in 1860 . These representations have found their way into a number of publications, including those with an academic background. Examples are the information that Yemeni sailors registered a house in Cardiff as a mosque as early as 1860, or that in 1860 there was a mosque listed in the register of sacred buildings at 2 Glynrhondda Street. A group of researchers from the Center for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University , led by theologian Sophie Gilliat-Ray , conducted a study of the religious life of British Muslims in the 19th and early 20th centuries in 2008 and 2009. Century through. When checking the information on the "oldest mosque in Great Britain" they were able to prove that the alleged registration in 1860 was based on a typo in the actual registration in 1991.

background

Cardiff, like other British port cities, had been home to seafarers from all over the British Empire since the mid-19th century . They spent the time until the next trip in hostels in the harbor area, mostly without settling down. Many of these seafarers were Muslims, and a large proportion of these came from the British protectorate of Aden, now Yemen . Their number was estimated at around 1,800 for Cardiff around 1930. In the second half of the 20th century, when the majority of members of other ethnic groups settled in London, most Yemeni immigrants were still drawn to Cardiff, where most of the immigrants from Yemen still live today.

At an early stage of the research work in 2008 and 2009, doubts arose about the history of the mosque, which dates back to 1860. These were due to the great distance to the port area and the economic situation of seafarers at the time, who were hardly able to buy a house. In an interview conducted in 2004 with a leading member of the Islamic community in Cardiff who had been active for 60 years, it was noticeable that the mosque was not mentioned in his memoirs. Initial research into the street directory kept by the land registry revealed that Glynrhondda Street was not built until around 1880.

Further examination of the original documents of the Register of Religious Buildings in England and Wales led to the finding that registration number 8149 had been issued on July 5, 1858 for a Congregational Church in Pembrokeshire . The mosque registered in Cardiff on October 17, 1991 at 2 Glynrhondda Street should have been given the number 78149; in fact, the leading digit had been forgotten when the number was handwritten. At a later date, inquiries with the abbreviated number led to the indication "around 1860" for the registration of the mosque.

Investigation of the legend

Evidence that there was no mosque in Cardiff around 1860 prompted researchers to further examine the legend, in relation to how it was created and distributed, its importance to Muslims in Cardiff and throughout Britain, and the consequences of its refutation . Research with the help of an Internet search engine revealed that the incorrect information appeared on the Internet around 2002 and has since become widespread. Newspapers such as the Guardian , the Arab News and the Financial Times played a major role, each reporting on the mosque at 2 Glynrhondda Street, which had existed since 1860, but in no way relied on academic sources. One focus was on pure internet sources such as Wikipedia , the websites of the Muslim Council of Britain and other Islamic organizations, official websites promoting tourism or the integration of migrants , as well as numerous internet forums and blogs with a political, religious or academic background.

The continuous repetition of the legend also contributed to its credibility, as did the unchecked adoption by recognized media. When it was shown on the websites of Islamic associations, local tourism initiatives or political parties in the struggle for Muslim votes, independence could still be called into question. The publications in reputable daily newspapers, a book chapter by the scientist Khizar Humayun Ansari and other academic publications, including those of the Center for the Study of Islam in the UK , made the allegation of the founding of a mosque around 1860 barely vulnerable.

The statements were presented in different ways in the representations, most often as a simple factual assertion that the mosque was founded or existed in 1860. Other reports contained qualifying additions such as “counts as the first mosque”, and there were also heavily embellished variants that claimed “founded by Yemeni seafarers” or referred to “detailed records”.

The portrayal of the Al-Manar Center as the first mosque in Great Britain was of importance to science because the establishment of a mosque is a sure sign of established structures of a religious group and indicates a readiness for permanent settlement. It was easy for historians to correct the information about the first mosque in Great Britain by a few decades. The Liverpool Muslim Institute, founded in 1889 by William Henry Quilliam , is now considered the oldest mosque in Great Britain . However, it is very likely that before 1889 there were unregistered places for religious practice in the major seaports and trading centers.

Of greater significance, the unveiling was for many Muslims in Cardiff and across Britain, for whom a 150 year history had become an integral part of their identity. The great need to look for the roots of one's own religious group far in the past is seen as a favorable factor in the rapid spread and increasing embellishment of the legend. The reports also developed a binding effect for Muslims of different origins and faiths, because the year 1860 was far enough back to prevent individual groups from being appropriated alone. The spread of the wrong information is considered a well-documented example of an urban legend . It was taken as an opportunity to examine the largely unexplored history of the Muslim population in Great Britain.

literature

  • Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth . In: Contemporary Islam , 4th year, No. 2, July 2010, doi : 10.1007 / s11562-010-0116-9 , pp. 179–193.

Web links

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ al-Manar Center (website of the mosque)
  2. ↑ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, pp. 180-181.
  3. ↑ without author: Spiritual Capital Cardiff - A Report on the impact of faith and cultural organizations in Cardiff , Cardiff 2008, p. 13, p. 49, [ digitized version ( Memento from May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Online PDF, 3, 3 MB]http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20140531182007%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fspiritualcapital.org.uk%2Fdocs%2Fspiritual-capital-cardiff-report final.pdf% 20Digitalisat% 5D% 20% 28% 5B% 5BWeb-Archivierung% 23Definitions% 7C% 3Cspan% 20style% 3D% 22color% 3A% 23303030% 21important% 22% 3EMemento% 3C% 2Fspan% 3E% 5D% 5D% 20vom% 2031.% 20Mai% 202014% 20im% 20% 27% 27% 5B% 5BInternet% 20Archive% 5D% 5D% 27% 27% 29 ~ GB% 3D ~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3DOnline% 20PDF% 2C% 203% 2C3% 26nbsp% 3BMB ~ PUR% 3D .
  4. ↑ See e.g. B. From scholarship, sailors and sects to the mills and the mosques (The Guardian June 18, 2002); see. Islam and Britain (BBC 2002) a. a.
  5. ↑ K. Humayun Ansari: The Woking mosque: a case study of Muslim engagement with British society since 1889 . In: Immigrants and Minorities , Volume 21, Number 3, 2002, pp. 1-24, here p. 6, doi : 10.1080 / 02619288.2002.9975044 .
  6. ^ Jamil Sherif: Historical roots of Islam in Britain . In: Abdul Wahid Hamid, Jamil Sherif (Ed.): The Quest for Sanity. Reflections on September 11 and the Aftermath , Muslim Council of Britain, London 2002, pp. 163–174, here p. 168.
  7. ↑ a b Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 180.
  8. ↑ a b Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 179.
  9. ↑ Fred Halliday: Britain's First Muslims provides an account of the Yemeni population in Cardiff and their history . Portrait of an Arab Community. New paperback edition , IB Tauris, London 2010, pp. 17-44, ISBN 978-1-84885-299-0 .
  10. ↑ a b Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 181.
  11. ↑ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, pp. 181-182.
  12. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 183.
  13. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 184.
  14. ↑ a b Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, pp. 184-185.
  15. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 187.
  16. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 186.
  17. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 189.
  18. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 191.
  19. ^ Sophie Gilliat-Ray: 'The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860': the evolution of a myth , 2010, p. 192.

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 15.68 "  N , 3 ° 10 ′ 31.03"  W.