Islam in the United Kingdom
Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the population as 4.4% of the total UK population,[4] while results from the 2021 Census recorded a population of 6.5% in England and Wales.[5][6] London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country.[7][8][9] The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom adhere to Sunni Islam,[10] while smaller numbers are associated with Shia Islam.
"British Muslim" redirects here. For the satellite television channel, see British Muslim TV. For the list of notable British Muslims, see List of British Muslims.Total population
1,318,754
569,963
563,105
442,533
During the Middle Ages, there was some general cultural exchange between Christendom and the Islamic world. Nonetheless, there were no Muslims in the British Isles; however, a few Crusaders did convert in the East, such as Robert of St. Albans. During the Elizabethan age, contacts became more explicit as the Tudors made alliances against Catholic Habsburg Spain, including with Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. As the British Empire grew, particularly in India, Britain came to rule territories with many Muslim inhabitants; some of these, known as the lascars, are known to have settled in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards. In the 19th century, Victorian Orientalism spurred an interest in Islam and some British people, including aristocrats, converted to Islam. Marmaduke Pickthall, an English writer and novelist, and a convert to Islam, provided the first complete English-language translation of the Qur'an by a British Muslim in 1930.
Under the British Indian Army, a significant number of Muslims fought for the United Kingdom during the First and the Second World Wars (a number of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest honour). In the decades following the latter conflict and the Partition of India in 1947, many Muslims (from what is today Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) settled in Britain itself. To this day, South Asians constitute the majority of Muslims in Britain in terms of ethnicity,[11][12] although there are significant Turkish, Arab and Somali communities, as well as up to 100,000 British converts of multiple ethnic backgrounds.[13] Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom and its adherents have the lowest average age out of all the major religious groups.[14] Between 2001 and 2009, the Muslim population increased almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population.[15]
Society[edit]
Economics[edit]
In a 2010 aggregate study published by the Government Equalities Office, Muslims in the United Kingdom had the lowest median hourly salary and held the least wealth amongst religious groups. They also held the lowest employment rates amongst religious groups, at 24% for Muslim women and 47% for Muslim men. The study noted that Muslim women who worked earned more than Muslim men and that Muslim men were more likely to be in self employment compared to the general population of men. Muslim men also had the smallest proportion with degrees, at 18%. More than two-fifths of Muslim men and women have no qualification beyond level 1 (equivalent to grades D-G at GCSE).[132] According to analysis based on the 2011 census, Muslims in the United Kingdom faced poor standards of housing and were more vulnerable to long-term illness.[133]
According to a 2013 assessment from the Muslim Council of Britain, it was estimated that there were more than 10,000 Muslim millionaires and 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.[134]
Amongst the economically active population in England and Wales, 19.8% of the Muslim population were in full-time employment compared to 34.9% of the overall population.[135] Data from the ONS for England and Wales in 2020 indicated that across religious groups, Muslims continue to hold the lowest earnings, lowest rates of employment, highest rates of economic inactivity, least likely to work in high-skilled occupations, least likely to hold managerial positions, and most likely to report holding no qualifications. However, there had been progress in these metrics.[136] The 2021 United Kingdom census for England and Wales found that the Muslim population had consistently lower rates of employment across every age group compared to the general population. Between the ages of 25–54, the employment rate for Muslims was typically 60% compared to around 80% across the whole population. Overall, 48.6% of working aged British Muslims were in employment, with the employment rate of Muslim women improving to 37%. Muslim women were 3.5 times more likely to report economic inactivity due to looking after family or home compared to the general population of women.[137]
Education[edit]
In 2018, 34 per cent of British Muslims had degree level qualifications, compared to 30 per cent of Christians and 35 per cent of those with no religion. 13 per cent of Muslims had no qualifications, higher than every other religious group.[138]
In 2006, it was found that approximately 53% of British Muslim youth chose to attend university.[139] This was higher than the figure for Christians (45%) and the non-religious (32%) but lower than for Hindus (77%) and Sikhs (63%).[139]
There are around 184 Muslim faith schools in the UK, 28 of them being state-funded.[140] 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.[141]
In 2019, four Islamic schools were in the top ten ranking for secondary schools in England, including Tauheedul Islam Girls High School in first place.[142]
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.[143][144][145] 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.[146]
Relations with wider society[edit]
Attitudes of British Muslims[edit]
According to the 2006 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, around 81% of Muslims think of themselves as Muslim first. This is consistent with Muslims living in Muslim-majority countries, who also tend to think of themselves as Muslim first rather than identifying with nation states (for example 87% of Pakistanis identify themselves as Muslim first rather than Pakistani).[209] However, around 83% of Muslims are proud to be a British citizen, compared to 79% of the general public, 77% of Muslims strongly identify with Britain while only 50% of the wider population do, 86.4% of Muslims feel they belong in Britain, slightly more than the 85.9% of Christians, 82% of Muslims want to live in diverse and mixed neighbourhoods compared to 63% of non-Muslim Britons.[210] In polls taken across Europe 2006, British Muslims hold the most negative view of westerners out of all Muslims in Europe, whilst overall in Britain 63% of British hold the most favourable view of Muslims out of all the European countries (down from 67% the year before).[211]
In the wake of the cartoon depiction of Mohammed in Danish newspapers and the 7/7 attacks, a 2006 ICM Research poll found that 97% of British Muslims believed it was wrong to show Muhammad with 86% of respondents feeling personally offended by the depiction.[212] 96% believed it was wrong for Muslims to have bombed London during 7/7, although 20% had sympathy with the feelings and motives of the attackers. 40% of those surveyed also supported the introduction of Sharia law in Muslim-majority areas of Britain.[213] Another poll by GfK revealed that 28% of British Muslims hoped that Britain would one day become an Islamic state, while 52% disagreed, and 20% did not venture an opinion either way.[214]
On religious issues, a 2007 poll reported that 36% of 16- to 24-year-olds believed if a Muslim converted to another religion they should be punished by death, compared to 19% of 55+ year old Muslims. A poll reported that 59% of Muslims would prefer to live under British law, compared to 28% who would prefer to live under sharia law. 61% of respondents agreed with the statement that homosexuality is wrong and should be illegal.[215][216][217] This appeared to be borne out by a Gallup poll in 2009 of 500 British Muslims, none of whom believed that homosexuality was morally acceptable.[218] Such polls suggest that British Muslims have strongly conservative views on issues relating to extra-marital and/or homosexual sexual acts compared with their European Muslim counterparts – who are markedly more liberal.[218]
A survey by Gallup in 2009 found that the Muslim community claimed to feel more patriotic about Britain than the general British population as a whole,[219][220] while another survey found that Muslims assert that they support the role of Christianity in British life more so than British Christians themselves.[221]
However, a poll conducted by Demos in 2011 reported that a greater proportion of Muslims (47% – slightly higher than the 46.5% of Christians who agreed with the statement) than other religions agreed with the statement "I am proud of how Britain treats gay people", with less than 11% disagreeing.[222][223][224] On 18 May 2013, just as the bill to legalise same-sex marriages was being prepared to pass into law, over 400 leading Muslims including head teachers and senior representatives of mosques across the country, published an open letter opposing the bill on the grounds that "Muslim parents will be robbed of their right to raise their children according to their beliefs, as homosexual relationships are taught as something normal to their primary-aged children".[225] A face-to-face survey conducted in 2015 by ICM Research for Channel 4 found that 18 per cent of British Muslims agreed with the statement that homosexuality should be legal in Britain, while 52 per cent disagreed, and 22 per cent neither agreed or disagreed.[226][227]