Anti-Muslim hate crime in England and Wales rose by 19% in the 12 months to March 2025, according to Home Office figures, as Muslim leaders across the UK describe a growing sense of fear and frustration over the government's response. Akeela Ahmed, head of the British Muslim Trust (BMT), the government's official partner for monitoring anti-Muslim hatred, said the scale of the problem has yet to properly register with the public and political class.
Unprecedented Violence Since Southport Riots
Ahmed said she was shocked by what she heard while travelling across the country. “We’re in an unprecedented situation since the Southport riots of 2024,” she said. “My parents suffered racism in the late 70s and early 80s after coming to this country. The violence we’re seeing now really reminds me of that kind of racism, but this is also another level.”
Over a three-month period last year, Ahmed's team documented 27 attacks against 25 mosques in 23 different parts of the country. In Scotland, Muslims were the target of nearly a third of religious hate crime. Incidents in the past six months include attempted firebombings, vandalism and violent attacks targeting mosques in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Blackburn, Manchester, Liverpool, Shrewsbury and east London, alongside an alleged firebomb attack on an imam's family home in Bolton, the torching of activist Salma Yaqoob's car in Birmingham, and a pig's head left outside a Muslim family's home in Stockport.
Official Figures an Undercount
Official figures are widely regarded as an undercount. A recent BMT survey found that more than half of Muslims (56%) had experienced religious prejudice in the past year. Muslim women appear to bear the brunt of the hostility, with reports of hijabs being ripped off, women being abused on public transport, and others being harassed or filmed in public.
Shaista Gohir, founder of the Muslim Women's Network, said ministers acted “quickly and swiftly” after the racist riots of 2024 but became increasingly hesitant as Reform UK rose in the polls. “They lacked courage to actually speak out,” she said. “If any community is under attack, the government should be robustly coming out and protecting communities. Instead, they’ve been really weak and feeble. They’re really scared about saying the wrong thing, and the far right can see that.”
Government Response Criticised
In the House of Lords this week, Lady Gohir asked when the government would renew its hate crime strategy, which lapsed in 2020, and why it had failed to strengthen hate crime laws to close loopholes exploited by extremists. She said both issues had been raised repeatedly over many months.
A government spokesperson said ministers were taking “decisive action” to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, pointing to the adoption of a definition of anti-Muslim hatred, a record £40m for protective security at places of worship, and £4m for programmes tackling anti-Muslim hatred. Ministers have also launched a social cohesion action plan, which includes measures on tackling anti-Muslim hatred. But Gohir believes the measures have not gone nearly far enough.
Fear Remains in Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, attention has moved on from the racist rioting that engulfed Belfast earlier this month, but among minority communities the fear remains. Naomi Green, an assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said many people felt abandoned by institutions that failed to protect them. “I literally felt like I was in a dystopia. I was getting messages from people saying: ‘I’m here in the house. My six-year-old daughter is here. Our house is on fire. Nobody’s coming,’” Green said. “I will never forget that message.”
Green said that since the riots, some politicians had doubled down on rhetoric around illegal migration. “Nobody who was attacked was a so-called illegal migrant, but they’re conflating Muslim communities with illegal migration, with just not being white.” Green, who is white and converted to Islam 20 years ago, said students at her son’s school had not only taken part in the riot but told her son he would be next, saying: “Foreigners like you are going to go home.”
Impact on Children and Daily Life
Ahmed has had repeated requests from parents for support on how to talk to their children about rising anti-Muslim hatred. Her 13-year-old son recently told her of an incident in school: “Everybody had to share their middle names as part of this exercise. My son shared his middle name, and then another boy said: ‘Oh, you’re called al-Qaida.’”
In Scotland, Zara Mohammed, a former secretary general of the MCB, said communities were in a state of shock after recent attacks in Glasgow and Edinburgh. “It is a bit of a gamechanger because traditionally we have focused on mosques being secure. Now we’re talking about people walking back from university, or in a restaurant, or having to hide in a shop,” she said. She described a growing tendency to view ordinary activities through a security lens, with Muslims avoiding certain areas, changing travel plans, limiting evening outings, altering how they dress, skipping mosque activities or asking relatives to accompany them because they no longer feel safe in public spaces.
Despite everything, Ahmed rejects the idea that communities should retreat from public life. “The majority of people in this country are good people,” she said. “We need to be able to come together as allies and draw boundaries around what we will not tolerate. We will not tolerate violence against people, hateful views against people.”
