Description:Text: Malcolm Dick
The Birchfield Road Flyover in Perry Barr speeds the traveller past the Jame Masjid, or Main Mosque. Originally named after President Saddam Hussein, this redbrick building with its golden dome, stained-glass windows and spacious interiors, provides an elegant contrast to the uniform tower blocks, which dominate this part of the former parish of Handsworth.
This mosque is one of around eighty in Birmingham, which vary in size from terraced houses to elaborate purpose-built complexes containing prayer-halls, libraries, schoolrooms and even marriage bureaux. Islam is a major world religion devoted to the worship of Allah, the enhancement of spiritual life and the performance of duties relating to personal conduct, social relations and charitable giving. There are two main tendencies, Sunni and Shia Islam, but within these are numerous tendencies.
In 1988, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq donated the sum of £2 million for the construction of this Sunni mosque. Not surprisingly, it was named after its financial patron. Then Saddam was Britain's friend; he had launched a war against Iran, a Shia Muslim state that was hostile to western influence in the Middle East. Much of Saddam's weaponry was manufactured locally. Many of his tanks began life in Coventry and the "Iraqi supergun" was built in Halesowen. According to a senior member of the mosque, "Saddam was Britain's best friend then. He was fighting Iran and keeping half of the West Midlands in work!"
Saddam became an enemy of Britain and the USA following his invasion of Kuwait in 1991. The United Nations backed the First Gulf War in 1991 to repel the invasion and Saddam became a figure of hate in Britain. The mosque was attacked and fire bombing caused several thousand pounds worth of damage. The building remained vulnerable, but served as a major community centre within an increasingly diverse Islamic community in Aston and Handsworth. The first worshippers were Gujerati Muslims, people of Pakistani origin and Bangladeshis, but the coming of refugees to Handsworth, including people fleeing from Saddam's Iraq, led to a more varied membership containing Bosnians, Kurds and Somalis.
After the destruction of the World Trade Centre in September 2001, local Muslims became victims of increased suspicion. Hostile contributions on international websites singled out the mosque for condemnation as a training post for enemies of the west. The Second Gulf War in 2003, led to more noticeable hostility. Telephone callers left abusive messages, there were two attempted break-ins and excrement wrapped in a page of the Koran was posted through the letterbox while worshippers were at prayer.
Most local Muslims were hostile to the war, which they interpreted not only as an attack on a tyrant but also as an assault on all Muslim states. Local Christians, including worshippers at the nearby Holy Trinity Church shared their opposition. The constituency’s Muslim MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood faced local criticism for supporting New Labour's involvement in the attack on Iraq. Given the prevalence of murders by guns in the immediate vicinity, people from many communities were desperate to bear witness against all killing. For them, the war simply displayed the belief that violence was a legitimate means of resolving disputes. Halima, one local Muslim said about the war: "I don't support Saddam Hussein at all, but it is wrong to kill anyone."
During this deteriorating climate, the elders of the mosque decided to change its name. In the summer of 2003, President Saddam Hussein Mosque was reborn as the Jame Masjid (Main Mosque), a common name for many Muslim places of worship. Hence a striking architectural feature of Handsworth’s skyline hid its distinctiveness behind a low-profile label.
Sources and Further Reading
The main sources for this article were secured via a web search for Saddam Hussein Mosque Birmingham. There are various publications exploring Islam in Birmingham. The best local study, Joly, Daniele, Britannia’s Crescent: making a Place for Muslims in British Society (Aldershot, 1995), says little about the mosque.