Shakil Patel

Shakil Patel is a British architect who has lived and worked in Oxford and Loma Linda, California. He is best known for his work designing mosques for Muslim congregations in the latter.

Early life A British Indian, Patel was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. He moved to Oxford in 2015, choosing the town because, as a religious Muslim, he does not drink alcoholic beverages, and was attracted by the fact that Oxford, which was founded by Seventh-day Adventists, was legally dry. Patel served a 10-year term as City Planning Commissioner, consistently voting against lifting the ban on selling alcohol. He is a member of the Board of Directors.

Career Patel is known for designing mosques that fit into the California landscape by combining elements of California's Spanish colonial style with traditional Islamic features such as minarets and/or tower and pointed arches.

Patel's buildings include the Islamic Center of Riverside, the Islamic Center of the South Bay, and the Ontario, California masjid.