Hawzah News Agency- After the four London bombings, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700, police recorded 180 racist incidents in three days, of which 58 were faith-related, and mosques were targeted with arson. A Guardian poll at the time found two-thirds of Muslims considered leaving the UK afterwards.
Imam Qari Asim at Makkah Masjid in Leeds stated that Islamophobia has consistently increased over the past 20 years, and not only as a result of extremism and terrorism, but also due to a multitude of other factors.
There was a dramatic increase in faith-related hate crimes and police stop-and-searches. Dozens of terrorism charges were brought every year, and conviction rates on those charges soared.
Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian man living in London, was shot dead by officers the day after the failed attacks of 21 July 2005, when they mistook him for one of the suspects. Another man was shot and injured during a counter-terrorism home raid in east London.
Britain is home to a diverse Muslim community, the majority of whom are under the age of 19, according to the Muslim Council of Britain. In England and Wales, 3.9 million people identify as Muslim, according to 2021 census data, or 6.5% of the population.
Begum said she was conscious of her two children being targeted because of their Muslim identity. When she hears the customary “See it, say it, sorted” announcement on the tube, she believes she hears it differently to how a white passenger might.
Shaista Gohir said that, as a Muslim woman born and raised in the UK, racism has always been part of her experience. But the chief executive of Muslim Women’s Network UK and crossbench peer added that she has never been as worried as she is now for the Muslim community.
Source: The Guardian
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