Draft:Islamic conquests in the United Kingdom

• Comment: This appears to read with a very heavy POV slant. Terms like "brilliant conquests and great spoils" have no place in an encyclopedia, and I think this draft heavily exaggerates some of the purpoted facts; I can find no reliable evidence of Britain routinely paying tribute to Algeria. CoconutOctopus talk 13:49, 19 May 2025 (UTC)

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Islamic conquests in British territories
Part of Islamic conquests
Date From the 16th century to the 19th century Location England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Belligerents
Islamic states	United Kingdom

The Islamic conquests in Britain, or the quasi-Islamic occupation of Britain, refer to a series of raids carried out under the banner of religious jihad by pirate warriors from the Muslim Arabs, Turks, and Berbers on towns, villages, and islands in England, Ireland, and Scotland over nearly three centuries, starting from the sixteenth century. These campaigns achieved major victories and led to extensive political, economic, and military gains. The Muslims managed to score brilliant conquests, seize great spoils, establish military bases in various regions, and capture millions of Europeans—an occurrence documented in hundreds of books addressing the phenomenon of European enslavement in the Islamic world during that period.

These Islamic raids effectively constituted a quasi-conquest of British lands, as the coasts of the English Channel were under the dominance of Muslim Barbary pirates, who roamed British seas, rivers, and canals freely—raiding at will, capturing and plundering, and seizing incoming and outgoing ships without deterrence.

One of the most prominent examples of these Islamic conquests was the full Muslim takeover of Lundy Island located in the Bristol Channel on the southwestern coast of England. The island remained under Islamic rule between 1627 and 1632 (possibly even until 1635).

During those centuries, Britain regularly paid tribute to major Islamic powers in North Africa such as Algeria, Tripoli, and Marrakesh, reflecting the extent of Islamic influence and dominance during that historical phase.

Background

Before the Islamic naval raids, Britain was undergoing gradual political and military transformations since the late Middle Ages. In the late medieval period, England was engaged in internal conflicts such as the Wars of the Roses, until conditions relatively stabilized with the beginning of the Tudor dynasty era in the 16th century. In this context, the English navy began to grow, driven by the desire to invade and plunder countries and expand commercial influence. Figures such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins emerged, who led naval campaigns against Spanish and Portuguese ships. They were often described as pirates or "privateers of the Queen," receiving covert support from the British crown. Britain also participated in naval raids on the coasts of France, Spain, and North Africa, as part of the struggles for control over the seas. Thus, by the 17th century, Britain had become an emerging naval power, engaging in organized piracy, relying on looting operations, colonizing nations, and waging naval wars in its quest for commercial and political dominance over the seas. This later made it a target for counter-raids from other naval powers, including the strongest naval force of the time, the Islamic fleets.

Motives

The Islamic naval raids on the British coasts took place under the banner of maritime jihad as part of a deliberate expansionist policy adopted by the Muslims to secure maritime trade routes and confront European powers that participated in the aggression against the Islamic world, whether through the Crusades or by supporting hostile kingdoms in the Mediterranean Sea. These raids also aimed to deter increasing European piracy targeting Muslim ships and to demonstrate Islamic naval superiority in the northern Atlantic Ocean. These operations conveyed a message of political and military power, reflecting the Muslims' ability to extend their influence to the farthest reaches of Western Europe, including England and the British Isles.

Early raids

The British Isles witnessed notable activity by the Barbary Muslim pirates, especially during the seventeenth century, although their operations extended before and after this period. The raids began after the Islamic conquest of Spain in the 670s, but the peak of activity occurred starting from the sixteenth century onward. The long-term impact of these raids continued into the nineteenth century. These raids were carried out by Arab, Turkish, and Berber pirates operating from the coasts of North Africa, under the banner of maritime jihad, and under the aegis of the Ottoman Empire. In 1625, in addition to Dutch and English fighters who had converted to Islam after being captured, Ottoman pirates launched an attack on the coasts of England, specifically targeting the areas of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset. In August of the same year, they attacked Mount Saint Michael Bay in Cornwall, where they kidnapped 60 people, including men, women, and children, and transported them to Algiers as slaves. In 1631, the Ottoman commander Murad Reis the Younger led a raid on the village of Baltimore in Ireland, where he abducted about 107 people, most of them English settlers and some local Irish, and took them to Algiers.

These raids were carried out using fast and well-equipped ships, such as sailing boats and galleys, which were capable of navigating the Atlantic Ocean and reaching the British coasts. The Ottoman pirates employed swift and surprise tactics, attacking coastal villages at night or dawn, abducting the local population, and then fleeing to their bases in North Africa.

Although these attacks were carried out by irregular pirates, they were implicitly supported by the Ottoman Empire.

Notable raids

Illustration of the British Lundy Island, captured by Muslims in 1627

• Baltimore, Ireland (1631)
• Dungarvan, Ireland (1633)
• Coasts of Wales (17th century)
• Mount's Bay, Cornwall (1625)
• Cornwall (1645)
• St. Keverne, Cornwall (1626)
• Looe, Cornwall (1626)
• Mousehole, Cornwall (1626)
• Lundy (1626)
• The Shetland Islands, Scotland (1627)
• Sussex coast (1640)
• King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England (1645)
• Cork, Ireland (1631)
• Plymouth, England (1640)
• Brighton, England (1640)
• Portsmouth, England (1640)
• Stepney, London (1670)
• Devon, England (1640)
• Plymouth Hoe, England (1640)
• Dorset, England (1640)
• Cornish coast, England (1640)
• Poole, England (1620s)
• Penzance, England (1626 and 1640)
• Lyme Regis, England (1670s)

Events

• In 1625, the Muslim mujahideen arrived in England, where they began attacking ships in the English Channel before launching raids on the coastal communities of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset. Their attacks did not stop there but extended to the Atlantic coasts of France, Ireland, and Scotland, reaching as far as Iceland and Newfoundland in Canada. A contemporary document from May 1625 stated: "The Muslims are on our coasts. They only take ships to take men to make them slaves.".
• In August 1625, Barbary Muslim pirates raided Mount's Bay in Cornwall, capturing 60 men, women, and children, and taking them into slavery.
• In 1627, the Muslims captured Lundy Island located in the Bristol Channel, led by Jan Janszoon, a Dutch pirate who converted to Islam and was also known as Murad Reis the Younger. Janszoon used the island as a base to launch raids on coastal areas and passing ships for several years.
• On 20 June 1631, the raid on Baltimore in County Cork, Ireland, took place. This attack is considered one of the most well-known events in the history of Barbary pirate raids on the British Isles. The raid was led by Murad Reis the Younger, and under the cover of darkness, the pirates stormed the small coastal village and captured all its inhabitants—mostly English settlers and some local Irish—taking them to North Africa to live in slavery.
• In 1633, the Irish village of Dungarvan was also subjected to a similar raid that led to the capture of around fifty people.
• In 1640, 60 men, women, and children were captured from Penzance in England by Algerian pirates.
• In December 1640, the English Parliament formed a special committee for Algeria, with the purpose of overseeing the ransom process to release English captives held in Algeria.
• In 1645, the coast of Cornwall witnessed another Barbary pirate raid, resulting in the capture of 240 men, women, and children.
• On 10 July 1656, seven boats and forty-two fishermen were captured by Muslims off the Manacles between Falmouth and Lizard.
• In 1669, a battle occurred off Cadiz involving the English frigate *Mary Rose* against seven Algerian pirate ships. The English fleet was attacked, and one previously recovered ship was lost.

• In 1675, Sir John Narborough, supported by a Royal Navy squadron, succeeded in negotiating peace with the Muslims.
• In 1680, Anglican minister John Rowley was captured near the British coasts.
• In 1716, Moroccan Muslims seized a British ship carrying John Bellough and his 12-year-old nephew Thomas near the Bay of Biscay. They were taken to Morocco and handed over to Sultan Moulay Ismail.
• In 1750, during a migration journey, Scottish woman Helen Gloag was captured in eastern Scotland by Moroccan pirates who killed all the men and took the women as slaves to Algeria. Helen was sold and later gifted to Sultan Mohammed III, who married her and she became known as the "Empress of Morocco."
• On 8 August 1756, a British ship was attacked by pirates from Salé in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar.

  

  British Muslim nobleman Francis Verney

Conversions among English captives

Some slaves converted to Islam, willingly choosing to remain among the Muslims even after gaining their freedom. Notable among these figures are:

• Jack Ward (Yusuf Reis): A Barbary pirate leader of English origin who converted to Islam in Tunisia in 1610, and participated in leading a Tunisian pirate fleet. He became a prominent figure in the history of Barbary pirates.
• Sir Francis Verney: An English nobleman who converted to Islam in Algeria in 1610 and took part in Barbary piracy activities. Later, he was captured and spent two years enslaved in Sicily before being freed.
• Joseph Pitts: An English sailor who was captured in 1678 and sold as a slave in Algeria. He converted to Islam and performed the Hajj. After his release, he wrote about his experience in his book "A True and Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mohammetans".
• Lalla Balqis: An English girl captured in 1685 and sold as a slave in Morocco. She became one of Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif’s wives and converted to Islam, taking the name "Balqis".

Islam in contemporary Britain

In 2025, the number of Muslims in the United Kingdom is estimated at around 4 million people, which represents about 6% of the total population, making Islam the second-largest religion in the country after Christianity. This growth reflects a gradual increase since the 2011 census, when the percentage was 4.4%.

In terms of origin, more than half of the Muslims in Britain (around 51%) were born in the country, indicating a rise in second- and third-generation British Muslims. On the other hand, about 49% of British Muslims are immigrants, the majority of whom come from South Asia, particularly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, along with smaller proportions from the Middle East and North Africa and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

References

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• Jihad
• Islam in the United Kingdom
• Islam in England
• Abbasid Caliphate
• Umayyad Caliphate
• Ottoman Empire
• Rashidun Caliphate
• Vikings
• History of the United Kingdom