UK gets more prayer halls as people turn to religion
RISE IN MOSQUES AND TEMPLES AS ASIAN POPULATION GROWS
THE number of mosques, temples and gurdwaras has increased in the UK in the past decade with more younger people turning to religion, according to experts.
There are around 1,800 mosques in the UK compared to 1,640 in 2015, according to research.
The Hindu Council UK group revealed there were around 175 temples last year with 149 in previous years.
And the number of gurdwaras has risen from 240 to around 250, according to the Sikhs in England think-tank.
Rajnish Kashyap, general secretary of Hindu Council UK, told Eastern Eye: “In Swindon, Milton Keynes, Cambridge Hindu communities have started moving there. Before they were concentrated in London, Watford and Leicester.
“As property prices have gone up, they have settled in other cities like Reading, Southampton, Northampton, Exeter, fuelled by the younger generation.
“Communities need somewhere to worship. When it reaches 2,000-4,000 people, there is a need to apply to the council for planning permission.”
Earlier this year, an application was submitted to convert a former Co-op store in Wiltshire into a Hindu temple.
It comes after Swindon Borough Council ended the lease on the previous temple nearby after a fifth break-in.
Meanwhile, Britain’s northernmost mosque could open in a disused corner shop to cater for about 30 Muslims who live on the Shetland Islands.
A planning application was submitted to turn the building, 120 miles north of mainland Scotland, into an Islamic place of worship and community centre.
A decision from Shetland Islands council is expected by the end of August. No objections have been recorded on the council website.
Kamran Uddin, a writer and mosque worker, told Eastern Eye: “The increase in places of worship is no surprise, really.
“First, the increase in population of Muslims in Britain, hence the requirement for more places of worship that accommodate their religious obligations. The mosque for Muslims is the centre of everything, it’s the hub of the community and pivotal for their spiritual development; hence the local community will make efforts to establish this before anything else.
“Second, there are grassroots efforts by Muslim communities and youth workers to establish Islamic educational centres to keep their faith alive within the next generation. This is particularly important if we, as a community, are to maintain our values and ethics while balancing the pressures of modern life.”
In June, The Makkah Mosque was granted permission by Bolton Council in Greater Manchester to demolish its current building, which is more than 100 years old, and build a three-storey new place of worship.
In Portsmouth, Hampshire, town hall bosses have given the green light for a building which was historically occupied by retailer Argos to be converted into a mosque. Meanwhile, a new Sikh community centre and gurdwara on vacant land where a pub once stood in Derby has moved a step closer.
Derby City Council told this newspaper the application is heading towards a positive decision and should be determined in July.
Harmander Singh, a spokesman for Sikhs in England, said: “One reason for the increase is demographics, more Sikhs have settled in Britain with their families. Second, places of worship have more importance than social centres in this country. When communities come under attack, they are places to feel safer with people among themselves.
“Since Covid more things have become online, but it is still a beacon and people are drawn to God in troubled times they face – the solace of spirituality.” He added: “There are young people coming into [gurdwara management], but not as fast enough as it could be.”
Some 2.6 per cent of the UK-born population is Muslim with 0.6 per cent Hindu, 0.5 per cent identifying as Sikh and 61.1 per cent Christian, according to the 2011 Census.
Among people born overseas living in the UK, 19 per cent said they followed Islam, 7.3 per cent said they followed Hinduism, 2.4 per cent were Sikh and 47.5 said they were Christian.
The next census will be published in stages later this summer and in the summer of 2023.