Background

The Mevlana Rumi Mosque & Dialogue Centre (or ‘Rumi Centre’ for short) was founded by the Anatolian Muslims Society – a registered charity established in 2004 by British Muslims of Turkish background. The Society aims to promote intercultural dialogue, greater understanding and community cohesion in the United Kingdom.

The Rumi Centre was named in honour of the thirteenth century Anatolian Sufi master: Mevlana Rumi, in an attempt to reinvigorate his Islamic teachings of love, empathy, and engagement.

In the past we have been involved in a number of activities including communal events such as:

• celebrations of religious festivals;
• large scale circulation of Noah’s Puddings to our friends and neighbours to celebrate Ashura;
• fast breaking dinners;
• numerous appeals including qurbani, Tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan;
• establishing and maintaining places of worship and other related institutions, such as weekend schools, to further the provision of sound education and teaching about Islam.

The Rumi Centre

The new Centre functions as a Mosque: addressing the urgent need for quality services and education of the British Muslim community in London while simultaneously working as a Dialogue Centre, with the objective of proactively seeking to facilitate community cohesion at the grassroots of society and welcoming all.

Particular and sustained effort will be made to encourage non-Muslims to use the premises and its services. To this end, events, courses and other activities on site will be tailored according to the needs and interest of all members of the community regardless of faith and race.

We aim to do this by organising talks, knowledge & skills-based courses and cultural events in order to help advance social awareness, education and integration within our local community.

The Premises

The restoration of the Centre began in April 2008 and has come a long way since, in terms of repair and redesign. With a total floor space of 800 square meters plus a spacious garden, the three storey building consists of:

• an Ottoman style Mosque with capacity of approximately 300 people
• modern ablution facilities </>
• a meeting room for up to 70 people
• 4 classrooms
• 3 offices and guest rooms