The Al Noor Mosque (, ') is a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

mosque in the

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

suburb of

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

in New Zealand. It was built between 1983 and 1985 by the Muslim Association of Canterbury, an organisation founded in 1977 that also manages the mosque building. It was the primary target of the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

of 15 March 2019.

History

Al Noor Mosque was founded by the Muslim Association of Canterbury. One prominent member was agricultural scientist Hanif Quazi, who at that time was working for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research based in Lincoln. The mosque broke ground in June 1983. The main construction contract was let in July 1984 to M. L. Paynter Ltd for

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

500,000. The government of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

donated $460,000 towards its construction. The first

Friday prayer Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

was held in the mosque on 21 June 1985, coinciding with

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

. It was the second mosque in New Zealand. In 2003, the Christchurch Muslim community organised a "National Māori Muslim Day" at the mosque. By 2015, the mosque had 550 members.

Terror attack

On 15 March 2019, the site was one of two targets in a terrorist attack at Christchurch. A majority of the victims were at Al Noor: of the 51 people fatally shot and the 40 people injured overall in the attack, 44 victims died and another 35 survived gunshot wounds in the mosque. The mosque reopened on 23 March. The lone attacker was convicted of multiple murder, attempted murder, and terrorism charges on 2 June 2020, and sentenced to life in prison without parole on 27 August the same year.

Controversies

In 2003, controversy arose within the local Muslim community over the mosque's management. The arrival of new members of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and Somali origin sparked tension with the earlier members of

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

origin, who have a different culture and have a different interpretation of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. In 2014, an Australian convert was alleged by his mother and stepfather that he was introduced to

radical Islam Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

at Al Noor before going to

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

to join

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, an allegation denied by Hisham el-Zeiny, the mosque's

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, ...

. The president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Anwar Ghani, said that mosque officials had told a

Salafi 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 ...

follower not to promote his views there. El-Zeiny said that many Muslims were angry about US drone strikes in Yemen and that the mosque's leadership was "spending most of tstime trying to lessen the effect."

References

External links

Muslim Association of Canterbury
{{Christchurch mosque shootings 1980s architecture in New Zealand 1985 establishments in New Zealand 21st-century attacks on mosques Christchurch mosque shootings Mosque buildings with domes in New Zealand Mosque buildings with minarets in New Zealand Mosques completed in 1985 Religious buildings and structures in Christchurch Sunni mosques in New Zealand 20th-century mosques in Oceania

History

Terror attack

Controversies

See also

References

External links