Not just a place of worship - more a way of life.

Masjid-E-Noor, Noor Street, Preston

The Mosque is the focal point of a Muslim Community. It is far more than just a place of worship - it is a resource centre, where sections of the people come together for very different events.

A Mosque is an education centre, a venue for luncheon clubs, a place where youth groups get together and where Muslim women can train for future employment.

It is also a symbolic meeting place for the elderly. Mosques are also important for youth education and all boys and girls aged from five to fifteen attend for two hours every day, between 5pm to 7pm, for religious instruction.

The emergence of Mosques in Lancashire was the determining factor in the creation of our Muslim communities today. In the first wave of immigration in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when men arrived in the County seeking employment in the mills, they had no intention to stay.

But as religious centres became established, they began to think of a future here and many called for their families to join them.

Mosques gave them identities and became centres for the community. Their construction and architecture have changed over the years, too.

The first were built in small terraced homes, then two or three houses were knocked together before larger buildings, such as cinemas, pubs and factories, were transformed.

Then in the early ‘80s came purpose-built Mosques, at first quite small but built much larger today, with car parks to serve and expanding community. Today there are 66 Mosques throughout Lancashire, 57 affiliated to the Lancashire Council of Mosques.

The need for such a large number is because Muslims are called to prayer five times a day at sunrise, noon, post noon, sunset and evening.

To help worshippers with the changing of the seasons, all Mosques display monthly timetables which show the rising and the setting of the sun.

One of the most important facets in a Muslim’s daily schedule is knowing exactly where he or she will be at these five important times of the day, so prayers are not missed. While it is compulsory to pray, it is not compulsory to pray in the Mosques, although if you do the reward is 27 times greater and the Muslim creed is to collect as many rewards as possible during a lifetime.

The entrance lobby where shoes are removed before entering the Mosque.

The place where worshipers prepare to do Woozoo (purification with water) before prayers.

Inner entrance to the prayer hall.

The prayer hall. Please wait a short while for this panoramic view to download

The pulpit.

The view from the pulpit.

A section of the Mosque can be curtained off for devoted worshippers during the month of Ramadan to stay over for ten nights.