MUSLIM MIGRATION TO BRITAIN

The earliest presence of Muslims in Britain can be dated far back as the 16th century. Muslim diplomats, businessmen, musicians, and translators were present in the city of London from various countries from North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The exact number of Muslims during the 16th century was not noted, nor was it clear if they were residents in England or merely here for a short period for work purposes.

The 18th century saw the first significant number of Muslims migrate to England as Lascars (sailors) from the Indian subcontinent and the Bengal region. The sailors were recruited by the East India Company (EIC) to work on the ships, some of whom settled down and took local wives (Fisher. M H, 20). These early sailor communities were found in port towns, due to accessibility and movement. As the decades went by, the number of sailors visiting the country began to increase. It was noted that by the beginning of the first world war, there were an estimated 51,000 South Asian sailors working on British Ships, the majority of whom were from the East Bengal region (Ansari, H. 2004). The 1932 survey of ‘all Indians outside of India’ carried out by the Indian National Congress reported an estimated 7,128 Indians were residing in the United Kingdom.

“Muslims have lived in Britain for hundreds of years; however, it was not until the 1960s that a visible Muslim presence could be observed.” (Hussain. S. p859. 2010)

The first mass Muslim migration to the UK took place soon after the Second World War, as a direct result of the damage

caused by the war. The Muslim migrant workers were brought over from former British colonies, predominantly the Indian subcontinent to rebuild what the Second World War had destroyed (La Barbera. 2014). These migrant workers settled in Britain, leading to a chain migration network where the immigrants follow their relatives and friends to the new location, influenced by cultural comfort and association. Through this network, pockets of new migrant communities and cultures were being formed in British towns, leading to an established framework of postwar British Muslim culture and architecture that followed in the decades to come.

Figure 7: 3 Lascars, (Waterline Collection, 1929)

So, where exactly did the Muslim migrants settle and why? And how did this impact the typologies of mosques found in Britain?

Migrants from the mid 20th century settled in urban areas. This was heavily influenced by the employment opportunities during the 50s and 60s. Subsequently, Muslim communities emerged in Britain’s main industrial conurbations such as the capital London, the West Midlands, and parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. By taking a look at the census data from 2011, we can identify that Muslims can be found all across the country, however, the above-mentioned locations have a higher threshold compared to other cities. The settlement patterns emerged in these areas as a result of association and social comfort; social support, shared linguistic and cultural and religious traditions. (explain why or how these patterns occurred?)

As the Muslim population and migrant communities continued to grow, the need for a place of congregational worship became more apparent. The early migrants would dedicate a space within their homes as a ‘worship space’. Due to the lack of funding and poor cash flow, the early first-generation migrant communities did not have the financial means nor the support to build a purposebuilt mosque. This is where the House Mosque typology became widely used.

Figure 8: Distribution of Muslims across England, Census 2011