There is a huge promotion of diversity in many retail stores such as Asda, Sainsburys, and much more. This diversity is manly shown through the love the stores have towards the Muslim community. 

The diversity in retail first began to appear in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. This was due to most Muslim immigrants migrating to the west and needed the halal meat. Halal meat is the only “permissible” meat which Muslims can eat due to the way in which the animal was sacrificed. Before the 1970’s, the west did not know much about the Islamic laws of meat, they saw this as an opportunity to not only make money from the Muslim immigrants but to also bring the two communities together which allowed them to live side by side together.  

Many Muslim to this day finds it “inspirational to see how the older generation of Muslims impacted the west,” said Muhammad Bilal. Another one of the local Muslims of Asda who have a huge halal meat section named Altaf said, “This is a great” as he “can buy and eat halal meat without having to worry if I’m breaking the Islamic regulations.”  

For the last month the Muslim community (reaching around 4 million in the UK) have celebrated the Islamic month, Ramadan. This month is a period that lasts 29 to 30 days, where Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset for reasons such as connecting the Ummah through the unity of fasting. During this month, many of the largest retail stores also take part to celebrate Ramadan in many ways. 

Asda seems to contribute to the celebration by selling dates which are most commonly used in the month of Ramadan to break the fast as well as limited deals off of food such as samosas and a few stores being decorated. Asda is extremely diverse by selling all sorts of Eid outfits. The outfits are tailored to fit the Islamic rulings on cloths to be quite modest and yet modern. Asda is also selling scarfs that can be used to become a hijab, these hijabs are modern to the extent where they have beautiful designs and colours. Additionally, Sainsbury’s have also altered their website to gather all the Ramadan essentials to be found in one place with additional sales occurring too. The food during Ramdan is made quite cheap and affordable.  

Overall, retail stores have made communities proud for how they are and formed a more diverse country.