Community Life

Many holy texts are written in ancient languages, with their understanding locked to away to all but the few who can decipher the true meanings of the words. The language of the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an, is an ancient, poetic form of Arabic, known as Tajwid.

Since the majority of Muslim east Londoners are from countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, where Arabic is not commonly spoken, they cannot always decipher the true meaning of the Qur'an without referring to translations.

However, Arabic is now enjoying a popular resurgence as young Muslims in east London try to build their own understanding of their religious texts.

Mohammad Shakir, a spokesperson for the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel, says that Arabic classes are often over-subscribed. "Generally people get their understanding from other scholars and people like Imams who generally have a better grounding in Islamic knowledge," he says, "And people just want to find out for themselves."

Why so popular?

The Ibn Jabal Institute, which runs Arabic classes for men and women at the Froud Community Centre in Manor Park, has seen a rise in popularity.

Tazud Miah, student at Ibn Jabal

One student there, Tazud Miah, says: "You realise that people interpret in a sense when they translate the Qur’an from Arabic into English and they add their own sort of understanding. I wanted to go back to the original understanding."

According to Amina Khatun, the founder of the Habiba Institute, based in Stepney, which runs women-only Arabic classes, young Muslims are particularly keen to learn more about their faith, particularly in the light of criticism that Islam has faced since the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks.

The number of students taking Arabic classes at the Habiba Institute has tripled from thirty to almost a hundred in the past year.

"Some people just read the Qur’an at surface level and don’t understand the actual meaning behind some verses, so there’s been a lot of misunderstanding about that," says Amina.

She adds: "People are given this impression that Islam is all about violence whereas when you come and really study Islam for yourself and the Qur'an for yourself, you see that it is a religion of peace."

angela.saini@bbc.co.uk