Muslims in the United Kingdom: The 4-Million-Strong British Muslim Community in 2026

The four-million-strong British Muslim community in 2026

Muslims are the second-largest religious community in the United Kingdom and the fastest-growing significant religious group in the country. The 2021 Census of England and Wales recorded approximately 3.9 million Muslims, around 6.5% of the population — up from 4.9% in the 2011 Census. Add Scotland (around 119,000 Muslims at the 2022 Scottish Census), Northern Ireland (around 10,000) and the projected growth since the census, and the working figure for the UK Muslim population in 2026 is comfortably over 4 million.

This guide is the comprehensive UK Muslim community reference: who we are, where we live, how we got here, the institutions we have built, the challenges we face, and the practical questions British Muslim families ask about their place in modern Britain. It is written for British Muslims first, but is also useful for non-Muslims who want an honest picture of the community their neighbours, colleagues and classmates belong to.

Population and demography (2021 Census + 2026 projections)

Indicator	Figure	Source
Total UK Muslim population (estimate 2026)	~4.1 million	Office for National Statistics 2021 Census plus growth projections
Percentage of England and Wales population (2021)	6.5%	ONS 2021 Census
Median age of UK Muslims (2021)	27 years	ONS — significantly younger than the general population (median 40)
Largest ethnic backgrounds	Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Arab, Black African, White	ONS Census ethnicity-by-religion data
Number of mosques in the UK (2026)	~1,800	Muslims in Britain database, Mosque Directory
Number of registered Muslim schools (2026)	~200 independent + ~30 state-funded faith schools	Department for Education + AMS
British Muslim convert population (estimate)	~120,000	Faith Matters / Cambridge research estimates

Where British Muslims live

The UK Muslim population is concentrated geographically. Approximately 76% live in five regions:

• London — over 1.3 million Muslims, around 15% of the city's population. The largest Muslim populations are in Tower Hamlets (around 39%), Newham (35%), and Redbridge (30%). Major Muslim institutions include East London Mosque, Regent's Park Mosque (Islamic Cultural Centre), Finsbury Park Mosque and Lewisham Islamic Centre.
• The West Midlands — around 600,000 Muslims, with Birmingham at the centre. Muslims are around 30% of Birmingham's population. Central Mosque Birmingham and Green Lane Mosque are the major institutions.
• Yorkshire and the Humber — around 460,000 Muslims, particularly concentrated in Bradford (around 31%), Leeds and Sheffield. Bradford has been the historical heart of the British Pakistani community since the 1960s textile-mill migration.
• The North West — around 470,000 Muslims, with major communities in Manchester (15%), Oldham (24%), Blackburn (35%) and Bolton.
• The East Midlands — around 200,000 Muslims, particularly in Leicester (24%) and Nottingham.

Outside these five regions, smaller but established Muslim communities exist in Cardiff (Wales), Glasgow and Edinburgh (Scotland), and Belfast (Northern Ireland), as well as historically smaller cities like Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and Brighton with growing Muslim populations driven by university-attached communities.

Brief history of Muslims in Britain

The history of Muslims in Britain is older than most British people — Muslim or otherwise — realise.

The early period (8th to 18th century)

Coins minted under King Offa of Mercia in the 8th century carry Arabic inscriptions including the Islamic shahada, copied from Abbasid coins of the period — likely for trade purposes rather than religious conversion, but evidence of contact. Diplomatic relations between Tudor England and Muslim states began under Elizabeth I, who exchanged letters with the Ottoman Sultan and the Sa'di Sultan of Morocco. Small Muslim communities of sailors and traders existed in port cities like Liverpool, Cardiff and South Shields from at least the 17th century.

The Yemeni and Somali sailor communities (19th–early 20th century)

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 dramatically increased the number of Yemeni, Somali and Indian Muslim sailors employed by British shipping companies. Many settled in port cities, founding the earliest organised Muslim communities in modern Britain. The South Shields Yemeni community, the Cardiff Tiger Bay Somali community, and the Liverpool Mosque (founded 1889 by Abdullah Quilliam, an English convert to Islam) date from this period.

Post-war South Asian migration (1950s–1970s)

The largest wave of Muslim migration to Britain came after WWII, primarily from Pakistan (especially Mirpur in what is now Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Punjab) and Bangladesh (especially Sylhet). Migrants were recruited by British textile mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire, by the foundries of the West Midlands, and by the London transport system. By 1971 the British Pakistani population had grown from a few thousand in 1951 to over 100,000.

Family reunification and second-generation Britain (1970s–1990s)

The 1962 and 1971 Immigration Acts restricted new economic migration but permitted family reunification. The largely-male migrant communities of the 1950s and 60s became settled families. The first significant second-generation British Muslim cohort — born in the UK but raised in households with strong heritage cultural ties — came of age in the 1980s and 90s.

Diversification and the 21st century

Since 2000, the UK Muslim community has diversified dramatically. Significant new arrivals include refugees and migrants from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and across West Africa. Eastern European Muslim communities (Bosnian, Albanian, Kosovan, Turkish) have grown substantially. The British convert community has also grown — research by Faith Matters and Cambridge University estimates around 120,000 converts in the UK, with a slight majority being women.

Institutions British Muslims have built

Mosques and Islamic centres

The roughly 1,800 mosques across the UK range from converted terrace houses serving 50 worshippers to architectural landmarks like East London Mosque (capacity ~7,000) and Regent's Park Mosque (capacity ~5,000). The largest mosque in the UK by capacity is Cambridge Central Mosque, opened in 2019, holding around 1,000 people in its main hall. The Bradford grand mosque (Suffa-Tul-Islam) and Birmingham Central Mosque are among the largest in the Midlands and North.

Schools

British Muslims have built a substantial independent school network — around 200 Muslim independent schools educating around 35,000 children, plus a smaller number of state-funded Muslim faith schools (around 30 across the UK, including primary and secondary). The Association of Muslim Schools UK (AMS-UK) is the umbrella body. Saturday/weekend madrasahs run from virtually every mosque, teaching basic Quran, Arabic and Islamic studies to around 250,000 children weekly across the UK.

Charity

British Muslim charity is one of the most active sectors in the UK voluntary world. Major charities include Islamic Relief (founded in Birmingham 1984, now operating in 40+ countries), Muslim Aid, Penny Appeal, Human Appeal, and Muslim Hands. According to the Charity Commission and ICM polling, British Muslims gave an estimated £150 million to charity during Ramadan 2023 alone — making British Muslims among the most generous per-capita givers in the country.

Higher education and academia

Major research and study centres include the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, the Cambridge Muslim College, the Markfield Institute of Higher Education (Leicester), and the Al-Mahdi Institute (Birmingham, Shia). Most major UK universities now have Islamic Studies departments and active student Islamic societies (ISocs).

Media

British Muslim media has grown substantially since 2000. Channels include Islam Channel, British Muslim TV, and IQRA TV. Print and online publications include Muslim News, The Muslim Network, and a growing ecosystem of Muslim podcasters, YouTubers and Instagram-based content creators serving British audiences specifically.

Practical realities of British Muslim life

Prayer in working life

Most British employers are now required, under the Equality Act 2010, to make reasonable adjustments for religious observance — including a quiet space for prayer where practical and short breaks for daily ṣalāh. Many UK workplaces have established prayer rooms. For Friday Jumuʿah, employees in city centres can usually attend a nearby mosque within a 60-90 minute extended lunch break.

Halal food

The UK halal food market is worth over £4 billion annually. Major supermarkets stock halal-certified meat ranges; halal restaurants are now mainstream in every major British city. Halal certification bodies include the Halal Food Authority (HFA), the Halal Authority Board, and several smaller bodies.

Education

British Muslim parents have a wide range of options: state schools (with reasonable adjustments for prayer and modest uniforms), state-funded Muslim faith schools (limited but growing), independent Muslim schools, and home education. Saturday/weekend madrasahs supplement weekday education with Islamic studies and Quran for the majority of British Muslim children.

Mosque governance

Most UK mosques are registered charities governed by elected committees. Major denominations represented include Hanafi (predominantly South Asian), Maliki (predominantly North and West African), Shafi'i (Yemeni, Somali), Hanbali, Salafi, Sufi traditions (particularly Barelvi and Deobandi within the South Asian community), and Shia Twelver and Ismaili communities.

Challenges British Muslims face

An honest community guide cannot avoid the difficult parts. Major challenges include:

• Islamophobia. The number of Islamophobic incidents reported to Tell MAMA has risen substantially in recent years. British Muslim women in visible Islamic dress report harassment in public spaces.
• Educational outcomes. Despite improvements, British Pakistani and Bangladeshi-heritage students continue to face attainment gaps in some areas, though the gap has narrowed substantially since the 2000s.
• Housing and employment discrimination. Documented in multiple studies — Muslim job applicants with traditionally Muslim names face measurably lower call-back rates than identical applications with non-Muslim names.
• Generational tension within communities. Many British Muslim families navigate genuine differences between first-generation parents holding heritage cultural norms and second/third-generation children navigating British culture.
• Internal sectarianism. Sunni-Shia, Barelvi-Deobandi, Salafi-Sufi tensions are real and play out in mosque committees, family disputes and online debate. The mature British Muslim community is increasingly aware of the cost of these divisions.

Where the British Muslim community is heading

By 2050, projections from the Pew Research Center suggest the UK Muslim population could reach 13% of the total population in a high-immigration scenario, or around 9% in a more moderate scenario. The British Muslim community is increasingly young, increasingly British-born, and increasingly confident in articulating its own identity rather than borrowing entirely from heritage cultural frameworks. The generation now in primary school will be the first majority-British-born British Muslim generation in history.

Frequently asked questions

Where to go next

For specific aspects of British Muslim life, see our guides on East London Mosque, Regent's Park Mosque, and our pillar on Ramadan in the UK. For Quranic education built around the British school year, weekend madrasah schedules and UK time zones, book a free trial lesson with an Al-Azhar-graduate teacher. Female teachers are available for daughters and adult women on request.