HISTORY
History of Witton Islamic Centre
1974/1975
158 Witton Road, Aston - A house is purchased to get together to pray and teach children.
53 George Arthur Road, Saltley - Brothers purchase a van to travel to George Arthur Road, pray and learn about Islam.
1979
Green Lane Mosque was purchased at a price of £24,000 by Markazi Jamiat Ahle-Hadith UK. Having acquired the building, the former public library section of the building was adapted for use as a Masjid and associated offices. Temporary wudhu facilities were introduced within the first-class swimming pool hall. The Masjid relocated from two terraced houses in George Arthur Road in Alum Rock to 20 Green Lane, Small Heath.
1979/1980
198 Witton Lane Purchased - This was converted into a mosque. Sh.AbdulHadi, Sh.Hafizullah (Green Lane Mosque) and Sh.Hafiz Sharif (Al-Birr Foundation) taught at the mosque for a number of years. Due to limited funds this land was purchased by Aston Villa FC in 1988.
1986
Prayers and teaching took place at 236 Aston Lane and 297 Witton Road while new facilities were sought.
1988
311-313 Witton road was purchased and converted in to the current premises.
2012 - Present
Current premises are being used to full capacity and we are currently looking to purchase a more larger premises.
History of Muslims in Birmingham
Modern-day Birmingham's cultural diversity is reflected in the wide variety of religious beliefs of its citizens. 74.1% of residents identified themselves as belonging to a particular faith in the 2011 Census, while 19.3% stated they had no religion and a further 6.5% did not answer the question.
The Muslim community in Birmingham is considered one of the most diverse after London with a wide spectrum of people originally from Africa, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Asia and other Asian countries. Although the earliest Muslims to arrive in Birmingham and England generally are said to have been from Yemen and the Indian Sub-content now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it is the Kashmiri community from Mirpur in Pakistan who formed the largest group of migrated Muslims.
The first mosque in Birmingham was the conversion of a terraced house in Balsall Heath but later a grand project was undertaken by Muslims with the development of the Birmingham Central Mosque in Belgrave Middleway, Highgate, which was conceived in the 1960s and then opened in 1975 to great acclaim as the largest mosque in Western Europe.
There are currently just over 200 mosques in the city, including purpose built places of worship, converted warehouses, churches and cinemas as well as former homes, schools and centres. Birmingham is home to numerous Islamic schools and has a rich array of Muslim bookstores and libraries. The city also has an Islamic Judiciary Board run by Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith UK.