Obituary: Shahara Islam

In some ways Shahara Islam embodied a meeting of Western and Muslim values, enjoying shopping in the West End but always being present at her mosque for Friday prayers.

A love of clothes ensured the cashier for the Co-operative Bank, in Islington, was always immaculately turned out, whether in the Western fashions she wore to work or the traditional shalwar kameez at home.

Described by her family as an outgoing woman who made friends easily, Shahara Islam, 20, grew up in Whitechapel, east London.

She left school with two A-levels but decided to go straight into work rather than enter higher education.

Source of pride

"She was an Eastender, a Londoner and British, but above all a true Muslim and proud to be so," said a statement from her family.

Like so many who died on 7 July, uncertainty has surrounded her movements.

Initially it was thought she may have died in the Circle Line bomb detonated near Aldgate Tube station.

"Everyone who knows her loves her dearly"
Uncle Nazmul Hasan

In fact, she had boarded the number 30 bus destroyed by a suicide bomber at 0947 BST, almost an hour after the Tube bomb blasts.

Her uncle, Nazmul Hasan, received a call from Ms Islam's mobile phone at exactly that time.

"I didn't know anything was wrong then," he told the Guardian.

"There was no voice, just the sound of people talking and a commotion in the street. Then it went dead."

Mr Hasan said his niece's family had been "very happy and proud of her".

'Rest in peace'

"Everyone who knows her loves her dearly. There isn't a single person who could say a bad thing about her," he said, speaking before her death was confirmed.

Ms Islam was the oldest of three children born to Bangladeshi parents - her father Shamsul, 42, moved to London in the 1960s and is a supervisor with Transport for London.

Her mother Romena is a housewife, remaining at home to raise her brother Anahurul, 17, and sister Tasmeen, 13.

Mr Islam told the Independent that his eldest daughter "would have been filled with anger towards the bombers. She loves London and Britain".

One of her customers at the bank, Giuseppe Ferrara, said: "She was always very polite and kind to the customers of the bank, me included.

"Rest in peace, Shahara."