Islam (Muslim) in United Kingdom
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom. Of Great Britain and also Northern Ireland. With results from the United Kingdom 2011. Census giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as 2,516,000, 4.4%. Of the total population. while more recent Office of National Statistics sources have it in 2018 as 3,372,966 in Great Britain alone. Also The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England: 2,660,116. (4.3% of the population). 76,737 Muslims live in Scotland (1.45%), 45,950 in Wales (1.50%). London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country.
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, there was some general cultural exchange between Christendom. and the Islamic world. however, there were no Muslims in the British Isles. (a few Crusaders did convert in the East, such as Robert of St, Albans)
During the Elizabethan age, contacts became more explicit as. Also 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 Moslim inhabitants. Some of these. Known as the lascars. Are known to have settled in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards.
Also 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 also a convert to Islam. Provided the first complete English- language translation of the Quran. 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. So (a number of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest honor). 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, British Asians constitute the majority of Muslims in Britain in terms of ethnicity,
Demographics
1- South Asian
A- Pakistanis
The single largest group of Muslims in the United Kingdom are of Pakistani descent.
B- Bangladeshis
People of Bangladeshi descent are the second largest Muslim community. (after Pakistanis)
C- Indians
There are large numbers of Gujarati Muslims in Dewsbury
2- Middle Eastern
A- Turks
The Turks in the United Kingdom represent a unique community in the country because
they have emigrated not only from the Republic of Turkey.
B- Kurds
The UK has a significant Iraqi Kurdish population.
C- Arabs
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, also Egypt and Palestine.
3- African
A- Moroccans
Britain has a far lower count of Moroccans. in comparison to France, the Netherlands and also Spain. where the majority of Muslims are Maghrebi.
B- Nigerians
Also A 2009 government paper estimated the Nigerian Moslim community as 12,000 to 14,000.
The community is concentrated in London.
C- Somalis
So A 2009 estimate by Somali community organizations puts the Somali population figure
at 90,000 residents
4- White European
A- Balkan and Slavic
Approximately 65% of all White European Muslims in the UK are of Slavic and also Balkan origin.
This includes Muslims from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, also Bulgaria, Turkey.
