Emel is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 lifestyle magazine that celebrates contemporary British Muslim

Islam in the United Kingdom

Islam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...

 culture. The magazine's name comes from the letters "M" and "L", which stand for "Muslim Life", and also resembles the Arabic word for "hope". Sarah Joseph

Sarah Joseph

Sarah Joseph is CEO and Editor of magazine emel and commentator on British Muslims. She is a writer and a broadcaster and lectures on Islam both within the UK and internationally...

, a Muslim convert, is the founder and current editor. Joseph married Mahmud Al-Rashid a man of Muslim Bangladeshi heritage, who is also involved in editing the Emel magazine.

Joseph and her husband launched Emel in 2003. It had previously only been available in specialist Muslim bookshops and relied mainly on word of mouth to attract new readers and subscribers. It has since become the most widely read British Muslim magazine. It was the first mainstream Muslim magazine in the UK to experience cross-over interest from non-Muslim readers and its circulation now covers 30 countries. Noted for being politically unaligned, Emel asserts an ethos based on the belief that Islam informs every aspect of life, including fashion, consumerism, and politics. "For emel, lifestyle has the potential to situate modern Muslim practices as part of contemporary consumer culture while simultaneously celebrating Islam's historical heritage."

Lloyds TSB

Lloyds TSB

Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in Birmingham, England in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810...

 partnered with Emel to launch what it claimed is the first user-generated content

User-generated content

User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...

driven community website targeting British Muslims, as part of a campaign to promote the national rollout of its sharia-friendly banking services. The new community website, called Emel Postcard, allows members to upload pictures and comments via downloadable "postcards".

External links

• emel magazine—Official website
• Emel celebrates 50 issues of Muslim Lifestyle FullScreen
• MediaUK - Emel
• Emel: A Muslim Lifestyle Magazine BBC
• "Putting a good glossy on the Muslim lifestyle" The Times