UK Muslims say religion central to their lives

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) Four in every five British Muslims describe religion as a very important factor in their lives although nearly half admit they never attend a mosque, a according to survey.

Over 80 percent said they felt either ''very strongly'' or ''fairly strongly'' that they belonged to Britain, while 79.1 percent said they felt ''very strongly'' they belonged to Islam, the survey for Channel 4's Dispatches programme showed yesterday.

The survey was based on interviews with 1,000 British Muslims and forms the basis of a Dispatches programme which was broaddcast last night.

More than a third of those questioned said hostility towards Muslims had increased significantly since last year's July 7 suicide bombings in London, and a further 29.5 percent said hostility had risen slightly.

Nearly one in five said they had been subjected to verbal abuse since the bombings.

Half of those polled said they were surprised that the July 7 bombers were British Muslims, and nearly half said they ''strongly disagreed'' with the idea the bombings were justified by Britain's support for the US war on terror.

Some 72.3 per cent said they strongly disagreed with the use of violence for political ends and 69.5 per cent said they could not understand why the July 7 bombers had carried out the attacks, which killed 52 people.

Two thirds said the bombings had damaged the image of Muslims in Britain.

Nearly half of those questioned described themselves as ethnic Pakistanis, while ethnic Bangladeshis, Indians and African Muslims were the next biggest groups.

Three out of five of those polled were born abroad and, of those, nearly 60 percent moved to Britain after the age of 18.

REUTERS DH RK0423