Moshing in the Mosque

I see that Douglas Murray got there before me – which is possibly why he is a famous and highly paid journalist and I am not. His article in The Spectator asks if London (Night)Mayor Sadiq Khan would support a rave in a mosque. The question hardly needs answering as it would, indubitably, be a resounding ‘no’.

On Times Radio, Khan was at his ultra-patronising best responding to a question about whether some people may be offended by the proposal to turn St Paul’s Cathedral into a night club. He said, probably correctly, that he had no control as Mayor over the uses to which places like St Paul’s were put. No, the hierarchy of the Church of England are perfectly capable of signing their own death warrant without the help of a Muslim Mayor.

St Paul’s is entering into an agreement with fabric nightclub (the lower case ‘f’ in fabric is deliberate – how trendy) to hold concerts in St Paul’s. Khan considered St Paul’s to be a sacred place but also praised fabric as being a great London institution (I’m sure he’s there dropping Es and throwing shapes every week) and that when not being used for worship, what was not to like?

The idea, he said, that this was a case of a Muslim Mayor disrespecting Christianity was ludicrous. As I said above, no need for him to disrespect Christianity. We already have the Church of England to do that for us.

Sean Walsh in his Substack and in Country Squire Magazine was quick off the blocks too with his observation that fabric was temporarily closed a few years ago due to some drug-related deaths. He says that ‘Anglicanism’s version of doctrinal evolution seems to involve routine public humiliation.’ Recognising that the design and acoustics of places like St Paul’s is designed for worship, ‘they cannot be leased out for secular events without there being some consequence for them as sacred places.’ However, I doubt the hierarchy of the Church of England cares.

I was quite surprised at the apparent naivety of Conservative Anglican Firebrand Rev Dr Jamie Franklin. On a recent Irreverend podcast he pointed out ‘to be fair’ that prior to each event a Canon of the cathedral would make an announcement to the effect that St Paul’s was a sacred place (a tad too late for that I think), and that people must remain seated throughout the performances.

The performances are to be of the electronic dance music that fabric is famed for. Well, good luck Reverend Canon in containing a bunch of drug and alcohol fuelled clubbers in their seats once the plinky-plonky music and the thundering electronic drumbeat get going. Or, maybe, he expects that the audience at the fabric events will be the usual parishioners, curious to see what is taking place and glad to be back in their sacred space.

I don’t want to start an ecumenical war with my Anglican friends, although we would like a few of our cathedrals back again (the ones that make a profit), but as a Roman Catholic – and Sean Walsh made this point well – we believe that ‘In every Catholic church the Lord is present really and substantially, kept safe under lock and key in the tabernacle.’ He is there to be worshipped and contemplated, not to be entertained by some drum and bass.

But to the point hinted at in my title and pre-empted by Douglas Murray. Can you imagine similar proposals to hold a modern music concert in Regent’s Park Mosque? Some of the bearded bigots of Islam are, in fact, totally against music. Basically, they are against any kind of enjoyment, barring the physical pleasures of raping underage girls and calling it marriage. “That’s not real Islam”, I can just hear some of my Muslim friends saying. Well, maybe not, but the litmus test for them is whether they think a rave would be tolerated in any mosque, even with your shoes removed.

Of course, the very idea is outrageous and would surely result in fatwās all round. It is not clear who initiated negotiations for the forthcoming raves in the naves. But one thing for certain is – and I could put money on this – if it was fabric, it wasn’t because they were turned down by Regent’s Park Mosque.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK. His Substack can be found here.