‘It would be a great loss’: London’s oldest Islamic bookshop at risk of closure

Loved by the likes of Yusuf Islam and Gai Eaton, Dar al-Taqwa is finding it tough to survive an era of online retail

London’s oldest independent Islamic bookshop is at risk of closing within a year owing to declining footfall and the rise of online shopping platforms.

Founded in 1985 by the Egyptian publisher Samir el-Atar, Dar al-Taqwa has been a cornerstone of British Muslim life for four decades – a place where scholars, students and converts have long gathered to browse, talk and connect.

Staff say the shop is the only non-sectarian Islamic bookshop and stocks all kinds of titles from politics and culture, to children’s books and translations of the Qur’an in major languages.

Since el-Atar’s death in 2022, his widow Noora el-Atar, a 69-year-old Muslim convert from Leeds, has taken over, even giving up her wage and not taking retirement to keep the business afloat.