イギリスのイスラム恐怖症危機の人的被害

After years of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protests and riots, as well as a general surge in racist violence, it’s no wonder that many British Muslims are feeling unsafe. Aliya, 30, tells Dazed that the current climate makes her feel scared when she goes out in her hijab. “I don’t always wear a hijab day-to-day, but I do when I’m going to the mosque, and now I feel more unsafe being recognised as visibly Muslim. I also worry about my loved ones going to the mosque, because you never know when you’ll run into the wrong people,” she says. 

The British Muslim Trust (BMT) says that 7 in 10 Muslim women felt more worried about their personal safety following the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rallies organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Speaking on the race riots in Belfast, Aliya adds that “seeing videos of emboldened racists going door-to-door attacking anybody non-white reminded me of the stories my parents would tell me about the National Front doing the same in the 1970s. I can’t believe this is where we are 50 years later.”

According to new figures published by the BMT, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crimes in partnership with the government, a mosque is attacked in Britain every five days. Human rights group Amnesty International, meanwhile, say that Islamophobic attacks in the UK have now reached emergency levels. 

Recent incidents include the evacuation of hundreds of Muslim students after a bomb threat at a school in Birmingham; a 14-year-old boy being charged with terrorism offences after planning to target two mosques in south London; the arrest of 12 people following a foiled terror plot against a Muslim festival in Suffolk, and a violent assault outside a mosque in Leyton. In June, a man armed with a machete went on a stabbing spree in Edinburgh that injured five people. At the time of his arrest, he was captured on video shouting that he was “protecting this country from f*****g Muslim b*****ds”. Over the last year, mosques and homes have been targeted in firebombings across the country including in Blackburn, Bolton and Sussex.

Muslim writers, activists and organisers have warned for years about the normalisation of racialised, Islamophobic rhetoric in political and media discourse, and how the hostile climate this creates risks spilling out into real-world violence. An extensive report from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM) found that The Spectator, Britain’s oldest political magazine, had “a sustained and systemic pattern of biased coverage of Muslims and Islam”, while an earlier report found that controversial news channel GB News repeatedly depicted “Muslims and Islamic beliefs as part of a conspiracy to undermine the British way of life”. Far-right political parties like Reform and Restore have also come under scrutiny for institutional Islamophobia, with multiple Reform candidates standing in British local elections having a history of sharing Islamophobic and racist content online. 

But the issue of anti-Muslim hostility goes beyond the far-right, and traditional media outlets across the spectrum of political opinion have long been accused of Islamophobic coverage. Major news publications, including the Guardian and the BBC, have been criticised for biased coverage of the genocide in Gaza that minimises the mass killing of mainly Muslim civilians in Palestine, while social media, along with the more recent introduction of generative AI, has helped to spread anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and racist tropes faster than ever. When Islamophobic rhetoric is promoted by those with vast wealth, power and influence, such as billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk sharing a Tommy Robinson speech which called for the mass deportation of Muslims due to their “hostile ideology”, it’s ordinary British Muslims who face the consequences.

While the government has pledged £40 million for mosque protections in 2026-27, allowing mosques to apply for additional security apparatus like CCTV and fencing, BMT say that 18-month delays and bureaucratic processes have left mosques unable to access the support they need, leaving them vulnerable to further attacks at a time of heightened risk. The government had recently pledged £250 million and 500 additional police officers to protect Jewish communities following a series of violent antisemitic incidents, leaving some to wonder why Muslim communities, in the wake of similar hate crimes, have not received the same level of support.

“We are coping with rising Islamophobia by reminding our community that the best response is to show what Islam truly is through positive action on the ground,” Imam Ashraf Dabous, a religious leader at the Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, tells Dazed. “We discourage reactive responses, especially negative ones.” Dabous expresses concern around the risks posed, “especially for the vulnerable such as women and children, but alhamdulillah (God be praised) we generally find a lot of support from non-Muslims within our community during these difficult times.” Dabous encourages his congregation to challenge stereotypes of Muslims by “showing the character of Islam and [pushing] ourselves to be beneficial members of society wherever we are,” he says.

At a time where online propoganda is stirring up hatred like never before, Muslims are often presented as a monolith and associated with things like grooming gangs, illegal immigration and extremism, amid the expansion of the UK’s legal definition of ‘terrorism’ in cracking down on pro-Palestine protests. While some of the discourse around Muslims has changed during different political climates – from the ‘War on Terror’ era to Brexit and beyond – the connecting thread is the idea that ‘Muslim values’ and ‘British values’ are clearly defined and incompatible. Muslims are treated as a suspicious, foreign group that can never truly be ‘British’, no matter how long they have lived here.

With its diverse congregation that transcends any one ethnic group, the Lewisham Islamic Centre defies these stereotypes; you’re as likely to see a tattooed white guy here as you would be down the local pub. “We are made up of members from various ethnic backgrounds such as traditional majority Muslim ethnicities; Pakistani, Bengali, Indian, Arab, East African, North African and West African, along with non-traditional Muslim ethnicities; English, Irish, Scottish, French, Italian, Caribbean, Chinese and others,” says Dabous.

“The culture within our mosque is distinctly British; we deliver all of our sermons, talks, and announcements in English. Our front-facing imams were born and raised in London,” he continues, rejecting the idea that Britishness and Muslimness are mutually exclusive. 

With Islamophobia reaching such concerning levels in Britain today, it’s more important than ever to challenge the dehumanisation of Muslims across society. Call out Islamophobia wherever you see it, and reject sweeping generalisations that ignore the plurality of Muslim communities and their right to dignity and safety. While those who are loud in their hatred often get the most attention, it’s important to remember that people of all faiths and backgrounds live alongside each other in harmony across the country. There has never been a more crucial time to show allyship and solidarity with each other. 

After years of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protests and riots, as well as a general surge in racist violence, it’s no wonder that many British Muslims are feeling unsafe. Aliya, 30, tells Dazed that the current climate makes her feel scared when she goes out in her hijab. “I don’t always wear a hijab day-to-day, but I do when I’m going to the mosque, and now I feel more unsafe being recognised as visibly Muslim. I also worry about my loved ones going to the mosque, because you never know when you’ll run into the wrong people,” she says. 

The British Muslim Trust (BMT) says that 7 in 10 Muslim women felt more worried about their personal safety following the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rallies organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Speaking on the race riots in Belfast, Aliya adds that “seeing videos of emboldened racists going door-to-door attacking anybody non-white reminded me of the stories my parents would tell me about the National Front doing the same in the 1970s. I can’t believe this is where we are 50 years later.”

According to new figures published by the BMT, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crimes in partnership with the government, a mosque is attacked in Britain every five days. Human rights group Amnesty International, meanwhile, say that Islamophobic attacks in the UK have now reached emergency levels. 

Recent incidents include the evacuation of hundreds of Muslim students after a bomb threat at a school in Birmingham; a 14-year-old boy being charged with terrorism offences after planning to target two mosques in south London; the arrest of 12 people following a foiled terror plot against a Muslim festival in Suffolk, and a violent assault outside a mosque in Leyton. In June, a man armed with a machete went on a stabbing spree in Edinburgh that injured five people. At the time of his arrest, he was captured on video shouting that he was “protecting this country from f*****g Muslim b*****ds”. Over the last year, mosques and homes have been targeted in firebombings across the country including in Blackburn, Bolton and Sussex.

Muslim writers, activists and organisers have warned for years about the normalisation of racialised, Islamophobic rhetoric in political and media discourse, and how the hostile climate this creates risks spilling out into real-world violence. An extensive report from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM) found that The Spectator, Britain’s oldest political magazine, had “a sustained and systemic pattern of biased coverage of Muslims and Islam”, while an earlier report found that controversial news channel GB News repeatedly depicted “Muslims and Islamic beliefs as part of a conspiracy to undermine the British way of life”. Far-right political parties like Reform and Restore have also come under scrutiny for institutional Islamophobia, with multiple Reform candidates standing in British local elections having a history of sharing Islamophobic and racist content online. 

But the issue of anti-Muslim hostility goes beyond the far-right, and traditional media outlets across the spectrum of political opinion have long been accused of Islamophobic coverage. Major news publications, including the Guardian and the BBC, have been criticised for biased coverage of the genocide in Gaza that minimises the mass killing of mainly Muslim civilians in Palestine, while social media, along with the more recent introduction of generative AI, has helped to spread anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and racist tropes faster than ever. When Islamophobic rhetoric is promoted by those with vast wealth, power and influence, such as billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk sharing a Tommy Robinson speech which called for the mass deportation of Muslims due to their “hostile ideology”, it’s ordinary British Muslims who face the consequences.

While the government has pledged £40 million for mosque protections in 2026-27, allowing mosques to apply for additional security apparatus like CCTV and fencing, BMT say that 18-month delays and bureaucratic processes have left mosques unable to access the support they need, leaving them vulnerable to further attacks at a time of heightened risk. The government had recently pledged £250 million and 500 additional police officers to protect Jewish communities following a series of violent antisemitic incidents, leaving some to wonder why Muslim communities, in the wake of similar hate crimes, have not received the same level of support.

“We are coping with rising Islamophobia by reminding our community that the best response is to show what Islam truly is through positive action on the ground,” Imam Ashraf Dabous, a religious leader at the Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, tells Dazed. “We discourage reactive responses, especially negative ones.” Dabous expresses concern around the risks posed, “especially for the vulnerable such as women and children, but alhamdulillah (God be praised) we generally find a lot of support from non-Muslims within our community during these difficult times.” Dabous encourages his congregation to challenge stereotypes of Muslims by “showing the character of Islam and [pushing] ourselves to be beneficial members of society wherever we are,” he says.

At a time where online propoganda is stirring up hatred like never before, Muslims are often presented as a monolith and associated with things like grooming gangs, illegal immigration and extremism, amid the expansion of the UK’s legal definition of ‘terrorism’ in cracking down on pro-Palestine protests. While some of the discourse around Muslims has changed during different political climates – from the ‘War on Terror’ era to Brexit and beyond – the connecting thread is the idea that ‘Muslim values’ and ‘British values’ are clearly defined and incompatible. Muslims are treated as a suspicious, foreign group that can never truly be ‘British’, no matter how long they have lived here.

With its diverse congregation that transcends any one ethnic group, the Lewisham Islamic Centre defies these stereotypes; you’re as likely to see a tattooed white guy here as you would be down the local pub. “We are made up of members from various ethnic backgrounds such as traditional majority Muslim ethnicities; Pakistani, Bengali, Indian, Arab, East African, North African and West African, along with non-traditional Muslim ethnicities; English, Irish, Scottish, French, Italian, Caribbean, Chinese and others,” says Dabous.

“The culture within our mosque is distinctly British; we deliver all of our sermons, talks, and announcements in English. Our front-facing imams were born and raised in London,” he continues, rejecting the idea that Britishness and Muslimness are mutually exclusive. 

With Islamophobia reaching such concerning levels in Britain today, it’s more important than ever to challenge the dehumanisation of Muslims across society. Call out Islamophobia wherever you see it, and reject sweeping generalisations that ignore the plurality of Muslim communities and their right to dignity and safety. While those who are loud in their hatred often get the most attention, it’s important to remember that people of all faiths and backgrounds live alongside each other in harmony across the country. There has never been a more crucial time to show allyship and solidarity with each other.