Author joins fight to save UK’s oldest independent Islamic bookshop
London’s Dar Al Taqwa could shut within a year thanks to falling trade. Dr Sofia Rehman is among those urging the community to use or lose the shop
The UK’s oldest independent Islamic bookshop is appealing for help staying open, warning that declining footfall could force it to shut within a year.
Dar Al Taqwa, opposite Baker Street station in central London, was established in 1985 by Egyptian-born publisher Samir El-Atar and has been a hub of Islamic literature for four decades.
“We’re on the brink,” said Halima Begum, who has worked at Dar Al Taqwa for 16 years. “People buying online is the biggest competition for us.
“The past few months have almost been a cry out for help. It’s not even coming into the shop and buying — just bring your presence, because that brings barakah.”
Begum said El-Atar had “really wanted” to open an Islamic bookshop to address the lack of availability of Muslim texts, adding that he had seen the store as a form of da’wah — the principle of inviting people to join Islam or strengthen their faith. He chose the location partly for its closeness to London Central Mosque on the edge of Regent’s Park.
The shop’s name roughly means “house of piety”. El-Atar’s daughter Hiba explained that he had wanted customers to feel the store was a place where they would be treated with trust and fairness — “a type of home away from home that carried a sense of blessing”.
Since he died in 2022, the shop has been run by his wife and co-owner, Noura El-Atar.
Dr Sofia Rehman, an author and longtime customer, said: “The bookshop is so unique — not only for the welcoming and warm environment created by the owners, but in the eclectic and wide range of books on Islam. There is something in there for everyone.
“To call it a treasure trove is so cliched and yet that is exactly what it is.”
Rehman said the shop had provided refuge for her as a visibly Muslim woman in a post-9/11 world.
“There was often so much hostility on public transport, in classrooms, and on the streets but Dar Al Taqwa felt like a haven from the rampant unbridled Islamophobia of that time,” she said.
“For me, Dar Al Taqwa is more than a bookshop. It’s an institution, a core moment in British Muslim history and thus one that must be preserved. Losing Dar Al Taqwa would be a great loss for the British Muslim community.”
The store’s customers over the years have included notable names such as US scholar Hamza Yusuf and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan.
“If we carried on how we were for the last six months, in the next six we would have to think about closing the shop down,” said Begum.
“We just want people to know that we are here and we want to stay.”
The shop hopes initiatives such as a 10% student discount will encourage people through the doors. It has also launched a fundraising campaign through its website with the goal of reaching £25,000 to help cover costs including rent.
