Welcome to Lewisham Islamic Centre, the beating heart of the Muslim community in the London Borough of Lewisham and the surrounding area. This part of South-East London is home to several thousand Muslim families accoring to the 2001 census, the population of Lewisham was then some 250,000. Of these, 4.5% were Muslim - equivalent to some 11,250 people. Many of these Muslims had originally come from the five different countries and more than a score of different countries; many are British born and bred, albeit descendents of Muslim immigrants. An ever increasing number are descendent of families that have never known any other country, as they ahve always lived in Britain. They may have been brought up as Catholics, Anglicans, Jews, agnostic or atheists but each one has individually found his or her own way to Islam. Likewise many newcomers to Islam are descenants of non-Muslim immigrants. Lewisham is not known to be among the wealthiest of the London boroughs, but our Muslim community is extremely proud of the rich diversity of its members. This is the true wealth.

History

in the late 1970s a small group of Muslims used to gather for Jumua (Friday) prayers at a private house in South East London. Typically there would be five to ten people each week. These families pooled their resources and energy, and eventually purchased the property in Brown Hill Road, Catford, thereby establishing the first mosques for local Muslims.

As some of these families lived beyond the borders of Lewisham in places such as Chislehurst and Erith the name "Lewisham & Kent Islaamic Centre" was chosen. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of these founding families the building was purchased outright, for cash.

The Brownhill Road building served the community well for some twenty years before it was finally recognised that it was no longer adequate for the needs of the growing congregation - indeed towards the end it had been necessary to maintain a large marquee tent in the back garden, to provide space for extra worshippers. We moved to the current site in 2002.