Al-Quds Mosque Hamburg

Al-Quds Mosque Hamburg was a mosque in Hamburg, Germany that preached a radical form of Sunni Islam. Al-Quds is where some of the September 11 attackers including Mohamed Atta, attended and met one another, forming the Hamburg cell.HistoryThe mosque opened in 1993, and was run by the Taiba German-Arab Cultural Association. It occupied a three-story building near the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof rail station in a red-light district, in the St. Georg section of Hamburg.Unlike many other mosques in Hamburg which cater to Persians and the Turkish population, al-Quds served Hamburg's smaller Arab population. Under leadership of Iman Mohammed al Fizazi (fr), the mosque preached a version of Sunni Islam. Other leaders at the mosque have included Sheik Azid al Kirani.The prayer room for men is carpeted, located on the first floor, and can accommodate up to 400. On Fridays, the mosque usually had around 250 in attendance.2010 shut downThe mosque was shut down by German security officials in August 2010 amid suspicion that the mosque was again being used as a meeting place for Islamic extremists involved in the 2010 European terror plot. German authorities discovered that 10 members of the mosque had traveled to the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Shahab D., an Iranian at the mosque, had joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.