‘God Save the King’ sung in London Central Mosque for the first time

Image by BBC

In honour of the lifetime of duty fufilled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, over 300 Muslims from across the UK gathered at London Central Mosque to mark the accession of His Majesty The King, Charles III on Thursday, 15 September.

Worshippers at the mosque sang ‘God Save the King’ at the service, which is said to be the first time it was performed at a national mosque in the UK.

Several guests attended the event, including Shabir Randeree CBE, the first Muslim chair of a Royal Charity – chair of Prince’s Trust International, Imam Mohammed Mahmoud – Hero Imam from the Finsbury Park Mosque terror attack, Saker Nusseibeh CBE, Chief Executive of Federated Hermes Limited, Bushra Nasir CBE DL – first female Muslim headteacher and London Deputy Lieutenant and the The Olive Primary School Choir.

Muslim ambassadors, Muslim royal family members, peers, MPs, and faith and community leaders from across the country joined school pupils to remember the life of Her Majesty The Queen and pray for the prosperous reign of HM King Charles III.

Ahmad Al-Dubayan, of the Islamic Cultural Centre told the BBC, “Muslims are so grateful and acknowledge all the things she did.”

He added, “The Queen was loved by everybody, and everybody remembers the achievements and the good things about her.”

The event began with the school choir performing ‘Sing’ by Gary Barlow and ended with the choir singing the national anthem along with all the guests present at the event. Marking every year of the Queen’s service, 70 Muslim school students sang the national anthem. 

The chairman of the Prince’s Trust International Board, Shabir Randeree, in an interview with the BBC said that it was a “very moving moment”.

He continued, “It raised the hairs on the back of my neck for two reasons. First, I was thrilled to be standing in a mosque singing God Save the King. And the second, I was deeply touched of course in trying to remember the Queen. It was a momentous moment and a very touching moment.

“The Muslim community are united with everyone, and you’ve seen an outpouring of grief, not just from the Muslim community but from all communities in the UK, and, dare I say, in the Commonwealth and worldwide as well.

“And it’s been an opportunity, a very positive opportunity, for all communities to show we stand together and we also mourn what is a very sad moment in our history, but we also celebrate the life of the Queen and her contribution. “I think it’s very important for the Muslim community to be out here and to say what they felt, and to also have the royal family and others and the entire country notice that they mourn deeply the passing of the monarch.”