mosques: Travails of the mecca of suburbia [UK]

Of the 1,300 mosques in Britain, the Shah Jahan Mosque stands out. That 
northern Europe's first purpose-built mosque is to be found in Woking 
will surprise many; that it is still flourishing today would once have 
seemed equally improbable.

The mosque's 120-year history mirrors some of the complexities in the 
variable relationship that Britain and Islam have enjoyed in the same 
period. It was founded in 1889, flourished for a decade, then fell into 
decay. Twenty years later it was restored and until the construction of 
the East London Mosque in 1940 it was the only building of its kind in 
Britain.

cont'd....
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3641534.ece