LUCKNOW: An umbrella body of mosques in India, All India Rabta-e-Masjid, has proposed to name the mosque to be built in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya district as “Mohammed Bin Abdullah Masjid”, after the Prophet.
The decision was taken in the presence of around 1,000 clerics of various Muslim sects in Mumbai on Thursday, who gathered to finalise the design of the proposed mosque.
As per the sources, the mosque will be built by Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust (IICFT) on land allotted to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board in Dhannipur village, 22-km away from Ram Janmabhoomi premises, in compliance with the Supreme Court order delivered in connection with the vexed issue of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid on November 9, 2019.
The apex court's verdict settled the decades-long litigation paving the way for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Earlier, the design of the proposed mosque was contemporary and simple like other mosques usually built in India but later it was decided to build the mosque on the pattern of grand mosques of the Middle East and Arab countries with high minarets and big domes.
“The Dhannipur mosque will be named after Prophet Mohammed-Bin-Abdullah, and its design will be inspired by ancient Islamic architecture. Pune architect Imran Sheikh will oversee its construction,” said Zufar Farooqui, chairman of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board who attended the meeting in Mumbai.
Farooqui added that the dimensions of the mosque would soon be shared, and hopefully, it would turn out to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the world.
“The best thing about the new design is its traditional looks,” said the chairman. The mosque will be bigger in size than what was proposed in the previous design and it will be able to accommodate more than 5,000 Namazis at a time.
“We had prepared the blueprint to collect more than Rs 300 crore for the construction of the mosque. It is hoped that the drive to collect funds will be successful. We will start construction of the mosque as soon as funds are collected,” he said.
He also said that a 300-bed charitable cancer hospital would be established by Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, of Wockhardt Group, the pharma giant.
The design of the proposed hospital, prepared by Professor SM Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia University, would remain the same and the museum, research centre and library would be dedicated to the freedom fighter of the 1857 revolt Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi, said Farooqui.
Meanwhile, the maps of the proposed mosque and hospital are still with the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) as the IICFT has to pay Rs one crore as development charges to get the map released from the ADA. However, the UP government has given all necessary NOCs regarding the construction of the mosque and hospital.