Islam is London's largest and most significant minority religion. There were 607,083 Muslims reported in the 2001 census in the Greater London area.[1] Most Muslims are concentrated in the east London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. 40% of England's Muslims live in London, where they make up 8.5% of the population.
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The first Muslims to settle in London were Somali and Yemeni sailors from the 19th century. Many Muslims from the Commonwealth served in the British Army and British Indian Army in the First and Second World Wars. In the wave of immigration that followed the Second World War, many Muslims emigrated to the UK from these Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Initially, many came from Pakistan especially the Pakistani Punjab and Kashmir and the Indian state of Gujarat. This initial wave of immigration of 1950s and 60s was followed by migrants from Sylhet Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan. Many Muslims also arrived from various other countries, although the percentage is far smaller than from the Indian sub-continent. Amongst those from other countries, Muslims from Yemen, Somalia and Turkey have significant numbers, whereas those from Iran, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya represent smaller fractions. Today, London's Muslims come from all over the world and there is a small but growing group of converts.
Most of London's Muslims are descendants of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, particularly Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. There is also a large number of Muslims from Arab countries. Among African muslims there are large Maghreb (including Algerian and Egyuptian) communities and Somali communities. In addition, London is home to large Turkish and Bosnian Muslim communities, both of which comprise over 30,000 members.
The city also has a high number of restaurants that serve halal food (around 2300).
However, this influx of immigrants has led to community relations issues. In the East End of London, there is a lot of tension in the area around East Ham, Barking and Dagenham between Muslims and non-Muslims. The British National Party gained their highest vote by proportion, 16.9%, in the 2005 General Election in Barking[2] and has 12 councillors on Barking & Dagenham Borough Council.[3] West London has also seen some conflict between Muslims and Sikhs at sixth-form colleges.[4]
London is residence of Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, thus playing a very important role as the Head Quarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
It is also home to The Islamic College, an Islamic college and university which offers A-levels, BA, and MA degrees in coordination with Middlesex University.
Since most of London's Muslims have roots in South Asia, many follow the Sunni Hanafi school of Fiqh - an expansion of Islamic religious law. Sunni Muslims from the African continent mostly follow the Maliki school. Somalis, Yemenis, Malaysians and Indonesians follow the Shafi'i madhab. While roughly 98% of Arab Muslims in the London area are Sunni, there is a Shia minority from Iraq and Lebanon. Others Shi'ites also come from Iran. Arab Sunnis are either Hanbali (Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Palestinian Authority, Egypt), Hanafi (Iraq), or Maliki (Morocco, Algeria).
London Muslim population origin
(UK: 500,000)[9][10]
(includes people from Cyprus and Turkey)
(UK: more than 1,000,000)
(UK: around 500,000)
(UK: 200,000-250,000)
(UK: 240,000)
(UK: 220,000)
(UK: 330,000)
(UK: 100,000-150,000)
(UK: 130,000)
as first language
as second language
Local municipalities with large Muslim constituencies include:
- Bangladeshis, Somalis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Pakistanis, Indians
- Pakistanis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Swahilis, Bangladeshis, Indians, Somalis, Iraqis"
- Somalis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Algerians, Moroccans, Afghans, Indians, Pakistanis, Lebanese, Bangladeshis
- Pakistanis, Somalis, Indians, Afghans, Nigerians, Iranians,Saudis
- Pakistanis, Somalis, Swahilis, Algerians, Bangladeshis, Indians"
- Pakistanis, Somalis, Indians, Afghans, Iraqis
- Nigerians, Ghanaians, Somalis, Bangladeshis
- Somalis, Pakistanis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Indians
- Turkish and Turkish Cypriots, Somalis, Kurds, Albanians, Nigerians, Bangladeshis
- Indians, Turks, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Ghanaians
- Jamaicans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Somalis, Algerians, Moroccans, Bangladeshis, Indians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Afghans
- Pakistanis, Indians, Somalis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Iraqis
- Bangladeshis, Iraqis
- Nigerians, Ghanaians, Bangladeshis
- Pakistanis, Somalis, Indians
- Indians; Turks, Ghanaians, Iraqis