Historic country house to host Muslims in ‘Britain’s largest Islamic gatherings’

People from all over the world are set to descend on the village of Barham, where just 1,500 people reside.

Shrubland Palace is a 19th-century Grade II listed house and garden.

It is not currently known if the venue holds the correct licenses to host an event of such scale, or whether the council has any knowledge of this event taking place.

There are also currently no known plans in place from the police as to what measures will be put in place to deal with such a large influx of people to the area.

The announcement came on a Facebook group named London to Nizamuddin.

” “My dear respected brothers and my dear respected elders. This noble work of Da’wah and Tabligh given to us by Allah, finds a new sanctuary in this beautiful 300-acre Shrubland Palace. As we prepare for this Ijtima, due to be held from the 10th to the 12th of July . . . My brothers and elders, from all over the world, please treat this message as an amanah, share it far and wide. . . Insha’Allah, we look forward to seeing you there.”

Shrubland Palace was sold to a private buyer in 2006 and is not currently open to the public, but does host private events on occasion.

In a message attached to the video, the religious group said: “We are pleased to announce that Shrubland Palace, Barham (IP6 0PW), will host the UK Ijtima on July 10-12th, 2026.

Unofficial social media posts about the event claimed the venue has space for more than 100,000 people.

Mid Suffolk Council state it is yet to be contacted by organisers over the plans, but a community leader has disputed this claim.

Shrubland Estate directors said: “We wish to provide clear and accurate information to reassure the local community. Events have taken place at Shrubland Estate since 1800 and we undertake due diligence and careful planning in hosting each event.

Organisers have since told this paper (EADT) that they anticipate between 20,000 and 30,000 people will attend across the three days.

The directors added: “All activities taking place are lawful and responsibly organised. The event has been planned with careful attention to all relevant local authority requirements, including health and safety, security, traffic management, and regulatory compliance.

“Appropriate measures are in place to ensure the wellbeing of attendees and to minimise any impact on the surrounding area. Three venues were shortlisted, this included London Excel, NEC Birmingham and Shrubland Park these were sought by a UK registered charity known as Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen who are organisers of the Ijtima, this is a peaceful community event for spiritual development.”

Organisers have stated that public footpaths would remain open during the July event allowing dog walkers to continue to use the park

Ipswich.co, a weekly news site has made deeper inquiries.

From Nizamuddin to Barham: The 100,000-person Islamic congregation Suffolk’s authorities know nothing about

The directors of Shrubland Hall, a large estate just outside Ipswich, say they have planned a 100,000-person religious gathering this July with careful attention to every local authority requirement. Every local authority we have spoken to tells Ipswich.co.uk a different story.

Alongside the estate’s statement, an Ipswich councillor who has publicly endorsed the event says planning is at an “advanced” stage, with “full regulatory compliance.”

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, Suffolk Constabulary, and Barham Parish Council tell Ipswich.co.uk a different story. No contact has been made with the district’s Safety Advisory Group. A spokesperson for Suffolk Highways confirmed that they have not been contacted. The parish council says neither the district nor the county council was aware of the event until this week. The site’s current planning permission is for a spa and health centre that has not been operational for some time.

These positions cannot easily be reconciled. And the estate, and the company that owns it, have a documented record of flouting planning rules and attracting regulatory refusal.

An Ijtema is a large religious gathering held by the Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni Islamic missionary movement founded in India in 1926 and now one of the largest such movements in the world. Its gatherings elsewhere are among the biggest regular religious events on the planet: the Bishwa Ijtema in Bangladesh has drawn millions, and the Raiwind Ijtema in Pakistan hundreds of thousands.

Attendees typically listen to religious talks after each of the five daily prayers, pray together, and are encouraged to travel in small groups afterwards to share their faith. The movement is politically non-aligned and focused on personal piety.

The organiser of the event, titled “London to Nizamuddin”, is a UK registered charity known as Anjuman-e-Islahul Muslimeen.

Promotional material circulating online describes the Shrubland site as “perfectly suited for the gathering, offering vast space for 100k+ attendees and unlimited parking.” It describes the venue as “located just 90 minutes from London and close to all major airports” and promises “a cost-effective, distraction-free environment dedicated to the service of the Deen.” The same material confirms that “Hazratji will be present,” the honorific given to the movement’s senior leader.

The Yorkshire journalist Danny Lockwood wrote about the Ijtema on 1994 in Savilletown, Dewsbury in his book The Islamic republic of Dewsbury which I recommended here. The three pages describing that event which attracted 50,000 people in near secrecy and subterfuge are attached at the bottom. 

A gathering at that scale would be unprecedented in Suffolk. For context, Latitude Festival — held at Henham Park — drew around 45,000 attendees in 2025. The combined population of Barham and Coddenham is around 3,700.

Ipswich.co.uk has approached the organisers. No response had been received at the time of publication.

…a comment from Cllr Ruman Muhith, a Labour member of Ipswich Borough Council. Cllr Muhith represents Priory Heath, a ward in south-east Ipswich. Shrubland Hall is in Barham, in the district of Mid Suffolk. Ipswich Borough Council — the authority on which Cllr Muhith sits — has no planning, licensing, highways, or safety advisory jurisdiction over the site.

Cllr Muhith said he was “aware of the proposed Ijtima, which remains in an advanced planning phase.” He said he had been “working constructively with the owners of Shrubland Estate to ensure that all aspects of the event are aligned with the highest standards expected by our local authorities. This includes thorough consideration of health and safety, security, traffic management, and full regulatory compliance.”

This appears to be untrue.

A spokesperson for Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, which together oversee planning and licensing for the site, told Ipswich.co.uk that anyone organising a public event in the district “is expected to engage with the Safety Advisory Group.” That group brings together Suffolk Constabulary, the county council’s highways team, district council teams, the East of England Ambulance Service, Suffolk Fire and Rescue, and others.

“In this case,” the spokesperson said, “no contact has been made with the Safety Advisory Group by the event organisers.”

The council is “now trying to establish further details to understand exactly what is planned, so we can respond accordingly in partnership with other agencies.”

On Wednesday, 22 April, Casey Wooltorton, Chairman of Barham Parish Council, publicly confirmed that the parish had spent that day in urgent discussions with both Mid Suffolk District Council and Suffolk County Council.

He said that neither authority had been aware that the event was being organised and planned. “All parties are now treating this matter seriously,” he said, as “licensing and large scale policing would be needed, neither of which has been applied for.”

Residents have said they first heard about the event from young men in the local Co-op, who told them they were there to put up marquees ahead of the July gathering. Others have raised concerns about traffic, scale, and the lack of official communication from any authority. One resident observed that the road past Shrubland Hall had “already given up and fallen into the field.”

A source close to the estate, who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity, told Ipswich.co.uk that Dr Muhammad Farmer, the estate’s owner, had gathered the delegate of around 300 people and barred from the estate the men who had spoken to residents in the Co-op about the event.

The apparent absence of engagement with the authorities is not an isolated feature of this particular event. The record at Shrubland Hall under its current ownership shows a repeated pattern of activity at the site outpacing — or bypassing — the permissions meant to govern it.

The estate says it is “known for hosting extraordinary South Asian, multicultural, and fusion weddings.”

Asked by Ipswich.co.uk whether Shrubland Hall is approved to conduct civil marriages or civil partnerships, Suffolk County Council confirmed it is not. “This is not due to any refusal by the council,” they said. “No formal application for approval has been submitted to the registrars.” The council added that the venue could still host blessings and celebrant-led ceremonies, “provided these are not presented as legally recognised marriages.”

It is another example of activity at the estate taking place in parallel with, rather than through, the local regulatory process.

In a little over ten weeks, Shrubland Hall will host what could be one of the largest religious gatherings ever held in Britain. The authorities responsible for licensing it, policing it, and planning for its impact on the surrounding villages say they have not been engaged by the organisers. The estate’s directors, and a councillor from an authority with no jurisdiction over the site, say everything is in hand.

Both statements cannot be true. The record at Shrubland Hall — a company fined for flagrant planning breaches, a venue marketed for weddings it cannot legally conduct — suggests this is a site where claim and reality have had an awkward relationship for some time.

Residents of Barham and Coddenham deserve to know what is coming to their doorstep this July. So does the heritage of the estate at the centre of it all.

Ipswich.co.uk will continue to follow this story. Anyone with information to share, in confidence or on the record, is invited to get in touch.

Dewsbury 1994.