Bradford’s first mosque was established on Howard Street in the 1950s. The initiative was led by Syed Syedan Shah, a resident of the street, who originally began holding prayer services in a room of his house in 1955. As the number of worshippers grew, Shah Sahib recognized the need for a dedicated place of worship. In 1959, he purchased house number 30 on Howard Street and converted it into a mosque.
Four trustees were appointed to oversee the mosque’s operations: Sakhi Muhammad from Mirpur, a Bangladeshi student, Syed Syedan Shah from Attock, and Abdul Rauf, also from Attock. Other contributors to the mosque’s development included Haji Lala Noor Khan and Dost Mohammad.
By 2004, Bradford had around seventy mosques and madrassas, many located in repurposed buildings such as old houses, cinemas, or factories. Some mosques, like the Hanafia Mosque on Carlisle Road and the Jamia Masjid of Lidget Green, were constructed on purchased land. The first purpose-built mosque in Yorkshire was established in 1973 in Keighley, under the guidance of Pir Abdul Ghaffar Ghaznavi.