Watford Mosque, which opens with formal prayers tomorrow, Thursday, has been carpeted exactly the same way as the gold-domed mosque in London’s Regent’s Park – thanks to an Arab sheik.
He is Sheik Salani, a Saudi Arabian businessman, who has made the largest individual donation to the mosque.
The carpet, made in Stourport, Worcestershire, is one of three specially woven for mosques in this country. It has a beige background and is patterned in blue in the shape of Moslem prayer mats.
The mosque, with its green dome and its minaret, has brought a distinctive Islamic touch to the town. The minaret is, however, only an architectural feature, since in this country it is not permitted for the muezzin to call people to prayer.
[From the midweek Watford Observer of April 24, 1985]
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