Islam in the United Kingdom

The earliest evidence of Islamic influence in England dates to the 8th century, when Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia, minted a coin with an Islamic inscription, largely a copy of coins issued by a contemporary Muslim ruler, Caliph Al-Mansur.[13] In the 16th century, Muslims from North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia were present in London, working in a range of roles, from diplomats and translators to merchants and musicians.[14] See Islam in England for more information on Muslims in England prior to the United Kingdom's founding in 1707.

Punjabi Muslims of the 33rd Punjabis, British Indian Army.

Bengal (now Bangladesh and West Bengal), an affluent province of Mughal India with a Muslim majority and Hindu minority, was conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The wealth of Bengal directly contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Britain,[15][16][17][18] with the capital amassed from Bengal used to invest in British industries such as textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and greatly increase British wealth.[15][16][17] With the establishment of British India, the British Empire ruled over a large Muslim population.[19][20][21] The first educated South Asian to travel to Europe and live in Britain was I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim cleric, munshi and diplomat to the Mughal Empire who arrived in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim during the reign of King George III.[22] He wrote of his experiences and travels in his Persian book, Shigurf-nama-i-Wilayat (or 'Wonder Book of Europe').[23]

In South Asia, specifically, the British ruled over one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. Upon coming into contact with such a population, the British Empire forged a uniquely Muslim identity for the local believers. This was, in part, due to the way the British periodized South Asian history into an “ancient” Hindu one and a Muslim “medieval”one. Under the system, the British period was classified as “modern.”[24] Debate rages on concerning the utility and legitimacy of these labels themselves. Problems with these labels range from the connotations coupled with the word ‘medieval’ to the implications related to equating colonization and modernization. The term medieval itself is quite controversial. Historians writing in journals relating to the time period have asked whether the term is a “tyrannous construct” or an “alien conceptual hegemony.”[24] This is because the label was originally developed during the study of European history to mark the period in between the fall of the Roman Empire and the fall of Constantinople.

Such classifications done by the British throughout their long rule paved the way for a more cohesive Muslim identity. In the eighteenth century, this seemed unlikely. Muslims who hailed from Afghan, Turk, Persian, or Arab roots did not find their Muslim identities especially salient. Mughal courts divided not into Hindu or Muslim factions but Persian and Turkish ones. Converts to the religion outside of courtly life, the majority of the Muslim population in the Subcontinent, too were more focused on their regional and lingual cultural identities-whether that be Bengali, Punjabi, Sindhi, or, Gujarati.[25]

The first group of Muslims to come to the UK in significant numbers, in the 18th century, were lascars (sailors) recruited from the Indian subcontinent, largely from the Bengal region, to work for the East India Company on British ships, some of whom settled down and took local wives.[26] Due to the majority being lascars, the earliest Muslim communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division of the Bengal Presidency in British India (now in Bangladesh). One of the most famous early Asian immigrants to England was the Bengali Muslim entrepreneur Sake Dean Mahomet, a captain of the East India Company who in 1810 founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostanee Coffee House.[27]

Between 1803 and 1813, there were more than 10,000 lascars from the Indian subcontinent visiting British port cities and towns.[28] By 1842, 3,000 lascars visited the UK annually, and by 1855, 12,000 lascars were arriving annually in British ports. In 1873, 3,271 lascars arrived in Britain.[29] Throughout the early 19th century lascars visited Britain at a rate of 1,000 every year,[28] which increased to a rate of 10,000 to 12,000 every year throughout the late 19th century.[30][31] A prominent English convert of the 18th century was Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley, who became a Muslim in 1862. Although not a convert himself, the Victorian Age adventurer, Sir Richard Francis Burton visited Mecca in disguise, documented in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. At the beginning of World War I, there were 51,616 South Asian lascars working on British ships, the majority of whom were of Bengali descent.[32] In 1932, the Indian National Congress survey of 'all Indians outside India' (which included modern Pakistani and Bangladeshi territories) estimated that there were 7,128 Indians living in the United Kingdom.

By 1911, the British Empire had a Muslim population of 94 million, larger than the empire's 58 million Christian population.[21] By the 1920s, the British Empire included roughly half of the world's Muslim population.[20] More than 400,000 Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army fought for Britain during World War I, where 62,060 were killed in action.[33] Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army later fought for Britain against the Nazis in World War II,[34] where Muslim soldiers accounted for up to 40%[35] of the 2.5 million troops serving the British Indian Army.[36] David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922, stated: "we are the greatest Mahomedan power in the world and one-fourth of the population of the British Empire is Mahomedan. There have been no more loyal adherents to the throne and no more effective and loyal supporters of the Empire in its hour of trial." This statement was later reiterated by Gandhi in 1920.[19] Winston Churchill also stated in 1942: "We must not on any account break with the Moslems, who represent a hundred million people, and the main army elements on which we must rely for the immediate fighting".[35]

Marmaduke Pickthall authored an English language translation of the Qur'an in 1930.

The Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking was the first purpose-built mosque, built in 1889. In the same year Abdullah Quilliam installed a mosque in a terrace in Liverpool, which became the Liverpool Muslim Institute.[37][38] The first mosque in London was the Fazl Mosque established in 1924, commonly called the London mosque.

Quran translators Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall, who authored The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation in 1930, were both trustees of the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking and the East London Mosque.[39][40]

Other aristocratic British converts included Sir Archibald Hamilton, 5th Baronet, Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley, St John Philby and Zainab Cobbold (the first Muslim woman born in Britain to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca).

Muslim boys listen to the Koran being read in the old mosque in Butetown, Cardiff, in 1943. The Muslim community in the area is long-established.

Muslim mass immigration to Britain began after World War II, as a result of the destruction and labour shortages caused by the war.[41][42] Muslim migrants from former British colonies, predominantly India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,[41] were recruited in large numbers by government and businesses to rebuild the country.[43] Large numbers of doctors recruited from India and Pakistan, encouraged by health minister Enoch Powell in the early 1960s, also played a key role in the establishment of the NHS health service.[44]

British Asian Muslims faced discrimination and racism following Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech and the establishment of the National Front in the late 1960s. This included overt racism in the form of Paki bashing, predominantly from white power skinheads, the National Front, and the British National Party, throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[45] Drawing inspiration from the Indian independence movement, the black power movement, and the anti-apartheid movement, young British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi activists began a number of anti-racist Asian youth movements in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Bradford Youth Movement in 1977, the Bangladeshi Youth Movement following the murder of Altab Ali in 1978, and the Newham Youth Movement following the murder of Akhtar Ali Baig in 1980.[46]

The majority of Mosques founded after the Second World War in Britain are reflective of the major strands of Sunni Islam predominating in the Indian Subcontinent; namely Deobandi and Barelvi (the latter of which is more Sufi-orientated). There are also a smaller number of Sunni Mosques which are Salafi in orientation, inspired by Abul A'la Maududi and Jamaat-e-Islami, are representative of the Arab mainstream or are associated with the UK Turkish Islamic Trust. In addition to this there are Twelver Shia Mosques. The Murabitun World Movement founded by Abdalqadir as-Sufi (born Ian Dallas) in 1968 is a branch of the Sufi Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri tariqa which was ran out of Achnagairn in the Scottish Highlands.

Martin Lings, an English Muslim scholar, published a significant biography of the Prophet Muhammad in 1983 entitled Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. The publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses in 1988 caused major controversy. A number of Muslims in Britain condemned the book for blasphemy. On 2 December 1988, the book was publicly burned at a demonstration in Bolton attended by 7,000 Muslims, followed by a similar demonstration and book-burning in Bradford on 14 January 1989.[47] The growing number of Muslims resulted in the establishment of more than 1,500 mosques by 2007.[48]

The single largest group of Muslims in the United Kingdom are of Pakistani descent. Pakistanis from Mirpur District were one of the first South Asian Muslim communities to permanently settle in the United Kingdom, arriving in Birmingham and Bradford in the late 1940s. Immigration from Mirpur grew from the late 1950s, accompanied by immigration from other parts of Pakistan especially from Punjab, particularly from the surrounding villages of Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Sialkot, Jhelum, Gujar Khan and Gujarat, in addition to from the north-west Punjab including the chhachhi Pathans and Pashtuns from Attock District, and some from villages of Ghazi, Nowshera and Peshawar. There is also a fairly large Punjabi community from East Africa found in London. People of Pakistani extraction are particularly notable in West Midlands (Birmingham), West Yorkshire (Bradford), London (Waltham Forest, Newham and Redbridge), Lancashire/Greater Manchester, East Midlands/Nottingham and several industrial towns such as Luton, Slough, High Wycombe and Oxford.

The East London Mosque was one of the first in Britain to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan.[60]

People of Bangladeshi descent are the second largest Muslim community (after Pakistanis), 15% of Muslims in England and Wales are of Bangladeshi descent, one of the ethnic groups in the UK with the largest proportion of people following a single religion, being 92% Muslim.[61] The majority of these Muslims come from the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. Many mosques opened by the British Bangladeshi community are often named after Shah Jalal and other Sufi saints who took part in the Islamic conquest of Sylhet in 1303. British Bangladeshi Muslims are mainly concentrated in London (Tower Hamlets and Newham), Luton, Birmingham and Oldham. The Bangladeshi Muslim community in London forms 24% of the Muslim population, larger than any other ethnic group.[62] Other smaller Bangladeshi Muslim communities are present in Newcastle upon Tyne, Bradford, Manchester, Sunderland, Portsmouth, and Rochdale.

There are groups which are active throughout Bangladeshi communities such as The Young Muslim Organisation. It is connected to the Islamic Forum Europe, associated with the East London Mosque and the London Muslim Centre – all of which have connections with the Bangladeshi political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami. Other large groups include another Sunni movement, the Fultoli (founded in Sylhet),[63] and the Tablighi Jamaat – which is a missionary and revival movement,[64] and avoids political attention. The Hizb ut-Tahrir calls for the Khilafah (caliphate) and influences by publishing annual magazines, and lectures through mainly political concepts,[65] and the other which is a movement within Sunni Islam is the Salafi – who view the teachings of the first generations as the correct one,[66] and appeals to younger Muslims as a way to differentiate themselves towards their elders.[56][67] All these groups work to stimulate Islamic identity among local Bengalis or Muslims and particularly focus on the younger members of the communities.[57][68][69] The British Bangladeshi community has held a strong point in Islam, often opening large mosques such as East London Mosque and Brick Lane Masjid, as well as opening madrassas and Islamic TV Channels.

There are large numbers of Gujarati Muslims in Dewsbury, Blackburn (including Darwen), Bolton, Preston, Nottingham, Leicester, Nuneaton, Gloucester and London (Newham, Waltham Forest and Hackney).

A Turkish girl in London.

Suleymaniye Mosque in Dalston, London.

The Turks in the United Kingdom represent a unique community in the country because they have emigrated not only from the Republic of Turkey but also from other former Ottoman regions; in fact, the majority of British Turks are Turkish Cypriots who migrated from the island of Cyprus from the British colonial period onwards. Turks have also migrated from Arabic-speaking countries (such as Algeria,[70] Iraq,[71] and Syria) as well as the Balkans (including Bulgaria,[72] Greece,[73] and Romania[72]). A report published by the Home Affairs Committee in 2011 claimed that there was 500,000 British Turks,[72] made up of approximately 150,000 Turkish nationals, 300,000 Turkish Cypriots, and the remainder from other countries.[74]

The Turkish Cypriots first began to migrate to the United Kingdom in 1917.[75] At the time, the British Empire had already annexed Cyprus and the residents of Cyprus became subjects of the Crown. Migration continued through the 1920s;[76] during the Second World War, the number of Turkish run cafes increased from 20 in 1939 to 200 in 1945 - creating a demand for more Turkish Cypriot workers.[77] However, due to the Cyprus conflict, many Turkish Cypriots began to leave the island for political reasons in the 1950s,[78] with the numbers increasing significantly after the Intercommunal violence of late 1963. With the subsequent division of the island in 1974 (followed by the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983) an economic embargo against the Turkish Cypriots by the Greek Cypriot controlled Republic of Cyprus, caused a further 130,000 Turkish Cypriots to leave the Island for the United Kingdom.[79][80]

Aziziye Mosque in Stoke Newington, London.

Migrant workers from the Republic of Turkey began to arrive in large numbers in the 1970s, followed by their family members in the late 1970s and 1980s.[81] Many of these workers were recruited by Turkish Cypriots who had already established businesses such as restaurants.[82] These workers were required to renew their work permits every year until they became residents after living in the country for five years.[81] By the 1980s, intellectuals, including students, and highly educated professionals arrived in the country, most of which received support from the Turkish Cypriot community.[83] Mainland Turks settled in similar areas of London in which the Turkish Cypriots lived in; however, many have also moved to the outer districts, such as Essex.[81]

Turkish-speaking Muslims have also come to Britain from other parts of the former Ottoman Empire. From Arabic-speaking countries, there are several thousand Algerian Turks in England,[70] In addition, according to a publication by the International Organization for Migration, the Iraqi Turkmen form one of "the three main ethnicities" within the British Iraqi community.[71] According to the Home Affairs Committee report, from the Balkans, there is an increasing number of Bulgarian Turks and Romanian Turks.[72]

In recent years, there has been a growing number of ethnic Turks from the modern diaspora in Western Europe, particular Turks with German (i.e. German Turks) or the Dutch (i.e. Dutch Turks) citizenship who have also immigrated to Britain in accordance with the freedom of movement under EU law.[84]

Academic sources suggest that 50 to 70 percent of people from Turkey are Turkish Kurds.[85][86] Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a growing number of ethnic Turks with German, or Dutch citizenship immigrating to Britain.

The Turkish community have established several mosques in the country. The first was Shacklewell Lane Mosque, established by the Turkish Cypriot community in 1977.[87] There are numerous other Turkish Mosques in London, mainly in Hackney, including the Aziziye Mosque[88] and Suleymaniye Mosque.[89] Notable Turkish mosques outside London include Selimiye Mosque in Manchester, Hamidiye Mosque in Leicester, and Osmaniye Mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.[90]

Turks from the same districts from their homeland tend to congregate in the same quarters in the UK.[91] The majority live in capital city of London, particularly in Hackney, Haringey, Enfield, Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, Croydon, Islington, Kensington, Waltham Forest, and Wood Green.[92][93] Outside London there are smaller Turkish communities in Birmingham, Hertfordshire, Luton, Manchester, Sheffield and the East Midlands.

The UK has a significant Iraqi Kurdish population. Academic sources indicate that 65-70% of people originating from Iraq are Kurdish Iraqis.[94] Nearly all Iraqi Kurds are Muslims.[95][96]

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Iraqi Kurds make up the largest group of Kurds in the country, exceeding the numbers from Turkey and Iran.[97]

Aside from North African Arabs, often referred to as Maghrebis (mentioned below), people of Arab origin in Britain are the descendants of Arab immigrants to Britain from a variety of Arab states, including Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine. Most British Arabs are Sunni Muslim, although some – such as those of Iraqi and Lebanese origin – are Shi'ite. A smaller number belong to one of the Eastern Christian denominations, such as Coptic Orthodox and Maronite or Syriac Orthodox Arabs from the Levant and Egypt. The main Arab Muslim communities in the UK live in the Greater London area, with smaller numbers living in Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. There are also sizable and very long-established communities of Muslim Yemenis in the United Kingdom in among other places Cardiff and the South Shields area near Newcastle.

The 2001 UK Census recorded 32,236 Iraqi-born residents,[98] and the Office for National Statistics estimates that, as of 2009, this figure had risen to around 65,000.[99] According to estimates by the Iraqi embassy, the Iraqi population in the UK is around 350,000–450,000.[100]

North African both Berbers & Arabs from the Maghreb (English: western) Although data is scarce, Maghrebis make up a substantial community in Europe and the United Kingdom. Britain has far fewer of Maghrebis than France, The Netherlands or Spain, where the majority of Muslims are Maghrebi.[101]

A 2009 government paper estimated the Nigerian Muslim community as 12,000 to 14,000.[102] The community is concentrated in London.

Nigerian Muslims in the UK are represented by several community organizations including the Nigeria Muslim Forum.[103]

Somali women at a Somali community gathering event in London

The United Kingdom, with 43,532 Somalia-born residents in 2001,[104] and an estimated 101,000 in 2008,[105] is home to the largest Somali community in Europe. A 2009 estimate by Somali community organisations puts the Somali population figure at 90,000 residents.[106] The first Somali immigrants were seamen and traders who arrived in small numbers in port cities in the late 19th century, although most Somalis in the UK are recent arrivals. Further more Somali European such as from Holland or Denmark have been emigrating in recent years.[106] Established Somali communities are found in Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and London, and newer ones have formed in Leicester, Manchester and Sheffield.[107][108][109][110]

In 2015, The Economist stated that were 2.3 million Sunnis in the UK.[115]

Among British Sunnis in 2017, 66.7% were just non-denominational Sunni, 5.9% were Barelvi, 5.0% were Salafis, 4.1% were Deobandi, and 18.3% adhered to another Sunni Islam denomination.[116]

The majority of British mosques are Sunni, including Deobandi, Barelvis and Salafi. In 2010 the affiliation of the mosques was: 44.6% Deobandi, 28.2% Barelvi and other Sufi, 5.8% Salafi, 2.8% Maudoodi-inspired; of the remainder many were part of other Sunni traditions or unaffiliated, while 4.2% were Shi'a (4%). The majority of mosque managers are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, with many Gujarati, and fewer Arab, Turkish and Somali managed entities.[117]

In 2015, The Economist stated that were 400,000 Shias in the UK.[115]

Shia mosques are usually Twelvers but also cater for Zaydis and the 50,000-strong Ismaili community;[118] they usually include facilities for women. Various Shia mosques include the Husseini Islamic Centre in Stanmore, Harrow which acts as one of the main Shia Muslim mosques in Britain as well as Masjid-e-Ali in Luton, one of the largest Imam Bargha/community centres in the UK. Others include Al Masjid ul Husseini in Northolt, Ealing, and Imam Khoei Islamic Centre in Queens Park, Brent. Across the country Manchester, Birmingham and London have the most Shia residents.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) established itself in the UK in 1912 and is thus the longest standing Muslim community in the UK. The UK and worldwide headquarters of the AMC are currently situated on the grounds of 'The Blessed Mosque' (Masjid Mubarak), inaugurated on 17 May 2019 by Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Movement.[119] in Tilford, Surrey. The AMC also has the largest Muslim youth organisation, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya) in the UK (membership of 7,500) and the largest Muslim women's organisation, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women's Association (Lajna Imaila), in the UK (membership of 10,000).[120]

According to analysis based on the 2011 census, Muslims in the United Kingdom face poor standards of housing, poorer levels of education and are more vulnerable to long-term illness,[123] and that Muslims in the UK had the highest rate of unemployment, the poorest health, the most disability and fewest educational qualifications among religious groups.[124] The figures were, to some extent, explained by the fact that Muslims were the least well-established group, having the youngest age profile.[124]

Conversely, there are 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses in London, creating more than 70,000 jobs and representing just over 33 per cent of Small to Medium Enterprises in London.[125]

The proportion of Muslims in the UK prison population rose from 8% in 2002 to 15% in 2016.[126] A 2010 report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that 30% of the Muslim prisoners interviewed had converted to while in prison, some of whom were "convenience Muslims" who adopted the religion in order to get benefits available only to Muslims.[127]

In 2011, 24.0 per cent of British Muslims had degree level qualifications, compared to 27.2 per cent of the population as a whole.[123] 25.6 per cent of Muslims had no qualifications, compared to the national average of 22.7 per cent.[123] In 2006, it was found that approximately 53% of British Muslim youth chose to attend university.[128] This was higher than the figure for Christians (45%) and the non-religious (32%) but lower than for Hindus (77%) and Sikhs (63%).[128]

There are around 140 Muslim faith schools in the UK, twelve of them being state-funded.[129] In 2008, 86.5% of pupils attending Muslim schools achieved five GCSEs, compared to a figure of 72.8% of Roman Catholic schools and 64.5% of secular schools.[130]

In 2016, Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School in Blackburn with Darwen was ranked first in the Government's new Progress 8 league table, with Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School coming in second place.[131] Some Islamic schools have been accused of promoting extremist versions of Islam.[132]

In 2018,the Crown Prosecution Service brought its first prosecution in England & Wales against an unregistered school, the Islamic faith school Al-Istiqamah Learning Centre in Southall, London where nearly 60 children aged 5–11 were being taught.[133][134][135] Head teacher Beatrix Bernhardt and director Nacerdine Talbi were convicted as running a school not registered with the Department for Education violates the Education and Skills Act 2008. They received fines and a curfew.[136]

In July 2017, a report by the Henry Jackson Society, a neo-conservative[181][182] think tank, claimed that Middle Eastern nations are providing financial support to mosques and Islamic educational institutions that have been linked to the spread of extremist material with "an illiberal, bigoted Wahhabi ideology".[183][184] The report said that the number of Salafi and Wahhabi mosques in Britain had increased from 68 in 2007 to 110 in 2014.[185]

There have been cases of threats,[200] one fatal attack,[201] and non-fatal attacks on Muslims and on Muslim targets, including attacks on Muslim graves[202] and mosques.[203] In January 2010, a report from the University of Exeter's European Muslim Research Centre noted that the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes has increased, ranging from "death threats and murder to persistent low-level assaults, such as spitting and name-calling," for which the media and politicians have been blamed with fueling anti-Muslim hatred.[204][205][206] However, Met Police figures showed an 8.5 per cent fall in anti-Muslim crimes between 2009 and 2012, with a spike in 2013 due to the murder of Lee Rigby.[207]

Hardline groups, including Hizb-ut-Tahrir, use accusations of Islamophobia to silence legitimate debate about extremism. While they in general are opposed to Western-style human rights, they use human rights to promote an Islamist ideology.[208]

The emergence of the English Defence League has resulted in demonstrations in English cities with large Muslim populations.[209][210][211][212][213] The EDL is a right wing, anti Islam[210][211][214][215][216] street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the United Kingdom.[217][218][219][220] The EDL has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as Islamophobic.[221] The group has faced confrontations with various groups, including supporters of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and Anonymous, of which the latter has also harassed Muslims as well.[222][223][224]