The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. It serves Great Britain’s largest Muslim community, chiefly British Bangladeshis. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe, and the biggest in the UK, accommodating more than 7,000 worshippers for congregational prayers. The mosque was one of the first in the UK to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan.

Construction of the three-storey East London Mosque began in 1982 on land left empty after bombing during World War II, and was completed in 1985.

Services provided to the community include: nursery, primary and secondary schools; supplementary education; library; fitness centres; wedding and conference hire; support for deaf children and adults; ICT Training and English classes; advice and counselling; and exhibitions and open days.

The mosque previously ran Muslim Community Radio (MCR), in partnership with the Islamic Forum of Europe, which started to broadcast in 1998 through an RSL, then through Spectrum. In the month of Ramadan from 2001 to 2013 MCR broadcast 24 hours a day across parts of east London. In 2005 it moved into a new studio in the London Muslim Centre. It was run by volunteers, and provided programmes in English, Bengali and Arabic.

The architect was John Gill Associates. The exterior is a distinctive brick pattern in two colours, with the front facing Whitechapel Road and the rear on Fieldgate Street. The mosque is capped with a golden dome of about 8.5m diameter. The minaret rises to about 28.5m above ground level, and the main entrance is finished with two smaller copies of the minaret. The mosque has two large halls, a gallery, classrooms, offices and a retail unit.

Construction for phase 1 of the mosque’s expansion, called the London Muslim Centre, began in 2002 and was completed in 2004. Adjoining and connected to the mosque, it is a six-storey building with a prominent entrance featuring a sweeping mosaic pattern. The centre has two multipurpose halls, a seminar suite, a nursery, classrooms, a fitness centre, a small Islamic library, a radio station, retail units and offices. It was designed by Markland Klaschka Limited.

In 2009 phase 2 commenced, a nine-storey addition on the Fieldgate Street side to be known as the Maryam Centre, on a site originally used by the mosque’s funeral services, designed by the same architect. The Maryam Centre opened to the public on 4 July 2013, adding a new main prayer hall, improved funeral services, a visitor centre, and over five floors of facilities for women including prayer spaces, education facilities, a fitness centre, and support services.