Prayer Times in United Kingdom

Muslims and mosques in United Kingdom

At the 2021 census about 3.87 million people in England and Wales, 6.5% of the population, described themselves as Muslim, up from 2.71 million ten years earlier. Scotland's 2022 census counted 119,872 Muslims (2.2%) and Northern Ireland's 2021 census 10,870 (0.6%). Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, and because the religion question is voluntary the figures show what people chose to report. The community is concentrated in a few places: about 15% of Londoners are Muslim, Tower Hamlets has the highest share of any local authority at 39.9%, and Birmingham has the most Muslims in absolute terms, 341,811.

British Muslims come from many backgrounds. In England and Wales 59.7% are of Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Indian heritage, a result of post-war migration to the mill towns and factory cities of the north and the Midlands. About 10.8% are Black, including Somali and West African families, 7.2% are Arab and 5.9% are White, a group that includes converts and families from the Balkans. The community is also young: the Muslim Council of Britain's reading of the Scottish census gives a median age of 25 to 29 for Muslims against 40 to 44 for everyone in Scotland.

Britain's first purpose-built mosque, the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, opened in 1889. There is no official register of mosques today, so counts depend on the definition used. The Ayaan Institute counted about 1,884 mosques in 2024, of which 1,179 are registered charities, the Muslims in Britain directory lists roughly 2,200 mosques, prayer rooms and shared spaces, and the fact-checkers Full Fact conclude that no definitive figure exists. Most Sunni mosques founded since the Second World War follow the Deobandi or Barelvi traditions, with smaller Salafi, Turkish and Twelver Shia congregations, which is why Friday sermon languages, timetables and even the start of Ramadan can differ between two mosques a few streets apart.

That variety matters for prayer times. Britain lies far enough north that in midsummer twilight never fully ends across much of the country, so Fajr and Isha are set with a high-latitude rule, and the gap between the earliest and latest Fajr of the year is wider than in most Muslim countries. Most mosques of South Asian heritage follow the Hanafi school, which is why this site highlights Hanafi Asr for the United Kingdom and shows the Standard time beside it. Communities also differ on the start of Ramadan and Eid: some follow the local sighting of the new moon, some follow Saudi Arabia's announcement and some use calculation, so neighbouring mosques can pray Eid on different days. Congregation (jamaat) times are set by each mosque, so use the times here for when each prayer begins and your mosque's own timetable for when it is held.

Sources, checked 2026-10: Office for National Statistics, Religion in England and Wales: Census 2021 (as summarised by the Muslim Council of Britain); Wikipedia: Islam in the United Kingdom; Wikipedia: Islam in Scotland (2022 census); Muslims in Britain: UK mosque directory; Full Fact: Muslims in the UK, the viral poster fact-checked.