The Al-Quds Mosque (; ) was a

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, located in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The mosque was opened in 1993 and operated until 2010 when it was shut down by German security officials. The mosque was known for preaching a radical form of

. The al-Quds Mosque was attended by some of the September 11 attackers including

Mohamed Atta Mohamed Atta (1 September 196811 September 2001) was an Egyptian terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist, he was the ringleader of the September 11 attacks and served as the Aircraft hijacking, hijacker-pi ...

Marwan al-Shehhi Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab al-Shehhi (; 9 May 197811 September 2001) was an Emirati terrorist hijacker from al-Qaeda who served as the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, crashing the Boeing 767 into the South Tower of the ...

Ramzi bin al-Shibh Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah bin al-Shibh (; born May 1, 1972) is a Yemenis, Yemeni Terrorism, terrorist who served as al-Qaeda's communications officer. He has been detained by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (NSGB) since 200 ...

, and

Ziad Jarrah Ziad Samir Jarrah (11 May 197511 September 2001) was a Lebanese man who was one of the four terrorist hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a rural area near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as part of the September 11 atta ...

who formed the

Hamburg cell The Hamburg cell () was, according to U.S. and German intelligence agencies, a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, Germany, that included students from different Arab countries who eventually came to be key operatives in the Septembe ...

History

The mosque opened in 1993 and was run by the Taiba German-Arab Cultural Association. It occupied a three-story building near the

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (abbrev. ''Hamburg Hbf''), or Hamburg Central Railway Station in English, is the main railway station of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Opened in 1906 to replace four separate terminal stations, today Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is ...

rail station in a

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...

, in the St. Georg section of Hamburg. Unlike many other mosques in Hamburg which cater to the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Turkish populations, al-Quds served Hamburg's smaller Arab population. Under the leadership of

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Muhammad Fizazi Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

( fr), the mosque preached a radical version of Sunni Islam. Other leaders at the mosque have included Sheik Azid al-Kirani. The prayer room for men was located on the first floor and was able to accommodate up to 400. There was a separate prayer room for women, which was unpainted and uncarpeted. On Fridays, the mosque usually had around 250 in attendance. By 2004, the mosque had, according to security authorities, become a meeting point for North Africans and Iraqi proponents of

jihadism Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

. By 2009, the mosque had become a place where members of the

Salafi movement The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

traveled to meet.

2010 shut down

The mosque was shut down by German security officials in August 2010 amid suspicion that the mosque was again being used as a meeting place for Islamic extremists involved in the 2010 European terror plot. German authorities discovered that ten members of the mosque had traveled to the border region of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, and Shahab D., an Iranian at the mosque, had joined the

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz-Cyrl-Latn, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати, Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 by Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev and former Soviet p ...

References

External links

* * {{Mosques in Germany 1993 establishments in Germany 2010 disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte Former mosques in Germany Hamburg cell Islamic terrorism in Germany Mosque-related controversies in Europe Mosques completed in 1993 Mosques in Hamburg Salafi mosques Sunni Islam in Germany

History

2010 shut down

See also

References

External links