It accompanied a newspaper article detailing how around 100 girls aged five to fifteen had been studying their Muslim religion at a Mosque in Bury Park, as part of a programme organised by the UK Islamic Mission.
On the day, the children’s mothers had been invited to celebrate their progress. It was reported that top prizes were given to Robina Murtza, Rabia Kayni, and Naseem Akhter, who were all then aged 14 and pupils of Denbigh High School.
The lessons were held after regular school hours and attracted families from across the town. While the Mosque where the lessons were hosted is not named, a Masjid on Bury Park Road itself was established in one terraced house in 1975. It now occupies 21-27 Bury Park Road and has a capacity of around 2000. Luton Central Mosque – the town’s first purpose-built Mosque – was not built until 1982, although Muslims have been worshiping on the site of the current building in Westbourne Road since the early 1970s.
Then Secretary of the organisation running the scheme for these girls, Syed Rizvi, told the reporter, “We want to educate our girls in the religious and cultural aspects of the Muslim faith along with their normal studies… It is essential for every boy and girl to understand the meaning of our religion”.
Mr Rizvi, a prominent community leader, shared his experience of practicing his faith when he first arrived in Luton in Anne Allsopp’s 2010 book, A History of Luton from Conquerors to Carnival. When he first came to the town in 1967 there were no Mosques in the town, but the Muslim population was growing, and it was necessary to find somewhere to meet and pray. In order to worship, the community first hired a hall on the corner of Oak Road and Dunstable Road, while the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost in Westbourne Road also provided them with accommodation until the town’s first Mosques were established.
Around the time this photo was taken, official census data suggests that around 10 per cent of Luton’s population identified as Muslim. This figure increased to 32.9% in 2021 and there are now around 25 Mosques in the town to serve a thriving Muslim community.
Almost 45 years after this photo was taken, we can safely assume that the thirteen children featured here would now be in their fifties and sixties - and it is likely that many may now be parents or even grandparents themselves. I wonder if any of them still live locally, what their memories are of the time, and if our readers recognise some of their faces?