The phenomenon started in Bradford in 1992 : twelve years later there are dozens of 'Radio Ramadans' across Britain broadcasting during the Muslim holy month. They are the largest single category in receipt of temporary licences from the Radio Authority ; and in larger cities each licence is hotly contested. There is no national co-ordination of the stations, and each offers a different balance of religious and community programming. Each has a different policy on the proportion of the output that is broadcast in English : in Bradford - one on the stations this programme will feature - over 50% of Iqra FM this year is in English.

In Bradford Iqra FM broadcasts 24 hours a day, and a breakdown of its schedule shows the sorts of insight into contemporary Muslim life in Britain that this programme will convey. In the mornings, when the listenership is largely elderly, there is an emphasis on religion and on broadcasting in original languages - Urdu, Mirpuri, Bengali etc. The two hours between 11.00 and 13.00 are devoted to women's issues. The 13.00 to 15.00 slot is given over each day to highlighting a different community organisation - for example, the Asian Disability Network, the Council of Mosques, those dealing with mental health issues, drugs or environmental concerns. Between 15.00 and 17.00 there is discussion of the wider world, with particular emphasis on the political situation in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the evening there is another women's slot, this time in English, and a question and answer session with a local imam. From 23.00 to 02.00 there is a discussion programme for young people ; and then, through the night, there is religious music - "especially for the taxi drivers" says Bradford's Masood Sadiq, the driving force behind the whole movement.

These stations receive no public money, and get all their revenue from local advertising. Each year new 'Radio Ramadans' appear - for instance, this year, in the unlikely place of Carshalton, Surrey. We will find its equivalent next year.

The programme will also raise the larger question of ethnic community broadcasting. In the autumn of 2005 two hundred full-time community stations will come on air, armed with Radio Authority licences. There is an impassioned debate going on - especially in the towns of northern England - as to whether these should or should not be ethnically / religiously based.