By Maira Butt
British Muslims are facing a growing threat as Islamophobic incidents escalated over the summer, leading to 27 verified attacks against mosques.
The first report of the British Muslim Trust (BMT), appointed by the government to monitor such incidents, paints a sobering picture of hostility against Muslims across the UK.
The Summer of Division: The Nationwide Surge in Anti-Muslim Hate says it “provides an early snapshot of the growing threat faced by Muslim communities”.
At least 27 attacks against mosques were recorded in between July and October. They included an arson attack intended to endanger life, a projectile attack, multiple cases of crosses and flags affixed to mosque property, and widespread graffiti and hate signs.
The timing of the attacks coincided with the widespread Raise the Colours and Unite the Kingdom campaigns that purported to display patriotism, with significant elements of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments.
The use of flags was particularly prominent in the incidents, which affected 25 mosques across 23 towns and cities.
Of the incidents verified by the BMT, 41 per cent involved crosses, Union Jacks, St George’s flags or the use of Christian slogans and symbols to intimidate. Phrasing used across incidents included “Christ is King”, “Jesus is King”, and “Devils” with upside-down crucifixes daubed on the sides of buildings.
At least 26 per cent of the attacks involved violence or destruction including smashed windows and assaults. One arson attack was recorded in Peacehaven in East Sussex. No one was injured in the attack, but the Muslim Council of Britain warned that the incident had come after a “disturbing pattern of violence and intimidation”.
Wajid Akhter, secretary-general of the council, said: “These incidents do not occur in a vacuum. This comes as media and political figures escalate collective blame and deliberate misrepresentation of Muslim communities, their causes and their faith.”
Words and slogans were especially involved in attacks recorded by the BMT, with 15 per cent of the incidents accompanied by graffiti or hate signs. The use of the internet to compound the abuse was involved to a degree with at least 11 per cent featuring verbal or online abuse.
The report describes the rise as a “a sustained and intensifying wave of attacks in recent months on mosques across the country through vandalism, anti-Muslim hate speech, and acts of symbolic abuse and physical harassment to intimidate British Muslims”.
There did not appear to be a significant concentration of attacks in any one area, although Watford had three attacks within five days, and places of worship in Birkenhead and Epsom were targeted repeatedly. Graffiti on Glasgow Central Mosque read: “Scots first”.
In July, when the BMT was set up, one incident was recorded, with numbers intensifying sharply to nine attacks in September and in October, showing a dramatic rise during its short lifespan.
Women and older people told the trust that they felt especially at risk of attack, with community leaders speaking of a “palpable rise in fear and isolation”. The increase in hostility had affected their daily lives to a significant and negative degree.
Mid-September marked a turning point in tone and sentiment with the pattern shifting “decisively” from “isolated symbolic acts” to a combination of “physical aggression and sustained public intimidation using nationalist and religious symbols such as flags and crosses”. These coincided with flag campaigns.
While about half of the incidents involved violence, the trust said others extended symbolic hate into surrounding streets and businesses. The report noted that perpetrators “acted with growing confidence and a visible sense of impunity”.
Muslims across the UK have attempted to reclaim symbols — with some mosques displaying the Union Jack inside their building — in an attempt to fight back against some of the narratives being imposed on the community. However, the report paints a sobering picture of the link between nationalist rhetoric and attacks against Muslims on the ground.
The trust notes a shift from “symbolic hate to physical endangerment”. It reports hearing “repeatedly that Muslims do not feel their concerns are addressed adequately when raised either formally with police or informally to local agencies and councils with some mosques expressing that they had shared their concerns with the police prior to incidents happening”.
The Summer of Division report’s recommendations include:
- Robust and more rapid support for victims and communities. This includes quicker response and support by police, better information-sharing between agencies, better involvement by councils as well as national government guidance to local authorities in dealing with such incidents
- Funding and protective security for mosques. Support for smaller mosques was particularly pertinent as they may not have the resources or knowledge to acquire support.
- Joined-up and timely responses across government, police, and local and regional civil-society partners to improve early warning and intervention. Places of worship must be incorporated into the wider safety-planning of community and neighbourhood spaces.
- Community cohesion programmes and education. Increased investment is needed to counter anti-Muslim hate to increase understanding, serving people of all backgrounds.
Akeela Ahmed, chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, said: “The evidence from this summer is incontrovertible: anti-Muslim hate in Britain is rising in both visibility and severity — and mosques are being targeted on a staggering scale.”
“The current crisis is intolerable”, she said, and that a “concerted sustained action is urgently needed”.
“At the British Muslim Trust we will continue to monitor hate and provide transparent, robust data – but that information must be acted upon. Britain’s four million Muslims deserve to feel every bit as protected and as much a part of this country as everyone else. This report must be a wake-up call — something has changed for the worse, and as a country we need to put it right.”
The government’s most recent figures for the year ending March — before the nationalist campaigns — recorded a 19 per cent increase in attacks against Muslims, with 45 per cent of religious hate crimes targeted towards those of the Islamic faith. In February, the anti-hate charity Tell Mama said it had recorded the highest number of Islamophobic incidents in its history in 2024: 6,313 casesreported, a rise of 165 per cent of verified cases reported in two years.
Earlier this month, 40 Labour and independent MPs wrote to the housing minister, Steve Reed, urging him to adopt a definition of Islamophobia. The government is yet to agree on a definition.
