Many UK Muslims are feeling anxious and afraid ahead of the Islamic celebration of Eid al-Adha this week, as it comes following rising Islamophobia , including far-right marches and a mosque shooting in San Diego last week. "Muslims shouldn’t have to always fear for their lives," a British Muslim in his 20s, who asked not to be named, told The New Arab. He said the main concern was the very explicit anti-Muslim rhetoric on display during last week’s "Unite the Kingdom" far-right rally led by extremist activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson. The hate march saw tens of thousands gathered on the streets of central London, bringing together various far-right groups, while Robinson declared that he would "stop Islam" if he ever became prime minister. Fears were further heightened after Muslims were left reeling this week following the killing of 51-year-old security guard Amin Abdullah, 78-year-old mosque elder Mansour Kaziha and 57-year-old Uber driver Nadir Awad during a shooting targeting the Islamic Center of San Diego in the United States. The attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime, has sparked outrage both domestically and internationally over the safety of Muslim communities ahead of the upcoming Eid al-Adha celebrations . "Every time I think we're making progress as a community with the amount of incredible Muslim representation across politics, TV, film or sports, things like this remind me how much we will always be othered. We will always be perceived as 'different'," the young man told TNA . Meanwhile, a 24-year-old university graduate, who also requested anonymity, expressed concern over recent events targeting Muslims, which she said had significantly affected the community both in Britain and globally. "Recently, there’s definitely been a rise in Islamophobia, and it can feel really uncomfortable and upsetting, especially as someone visibly Muslim," she said. "Hearing about shootings and far-right rallies honestly just made me feel sad and more anxious about places like mosques or big Eid gatherings because it feels like Muslims are constantly painted as bad or problematic when that isn’t the reality at all," she added.
With Eid approaching, several leading Muslim organisations and rights groups in the UK have warned about a growing wave of anti-Muslim hatred and violence , with many advocates warning against what they say is the increasing normalisation of Islamophobia. Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty International UK’s Racial Justice Lead, condemned recent far-right activity in Britain, describing the "Unite the Kingdom" rally as "a grotesque display of Islamophobia." He added: "It included performers wearing mock Burqas on stage, speakers calling to 'remove Islam from every single place of authority' and a performer bizarrely covering himself in bacon to 'fight Islam'."
Nagdee noted that the march took place only a week after a prayer room at a Blackburn cafe suffered significant damage after masked individuals reportedly attacked it using what appeared to be firebombs. He stressed that the incident came during "a time when religious hate crimes are at a record high." Last year, anti-Muslim hate crime watchdogs found that the genocidal war in Gaza , the 2024 Southport murders and subsequent far-right unrest contributed to a major rise in Islamophobia cases across Britain in 2024. 'Dehumanisation' Concerns over anti-Muslim hatred have continued following the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran in February, adding to already heightened tensions and incidents recorded over recent years. "There's been an increase of Islamophobia, particularly within the last few years, and the genocide has been allowed to happen because of the dehumanisation of Palestinians, and Palestinians have been dehumanised for many years," Dr Naomi Green, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), told TNA . "In the public imagination, Palestinians are deemed as radical Muslims who want to come and destroy the West, which then manifests and extends beyond borders of Palestine and into Lebanon and into other countries in the region and into the UK," she continued.
"It's an idea that's being promoted not just within the UK, but across the world, and from certain parts, in order to justify the genocide- but also just generally against Muslims in European countries and in America," she continued. Condemning the San Diego shooting, Green recalled a similar traumatic incident involving her own local mosque in Belfast, Northern Ireland , which came under attack last year after an explosive device was thrown through a window while worshippers were inside praying. Green said many Muslims are increasingly concerned that inflammatory rhetoric may escalate into direct intimidation and physical abuse. "I'm sure several people who may plan to attend Eid al-Adha prayers in a park, for example, they might be wondering if it is safe to do that," she said. "Maybe it could be better to have multiple [separate] prayers in a building rather than try to host a bigger event, because it doesn't feel safe anymore." As a result of growing Islamophobia documented in the UK, Green said the MCB had introduced regional training programmes in several cities and implemented emergency response scenarios to address security concerns ahead of Eid.
She also criticised the Labour government's response to rising Islamophobia and called for stronger regulation of social media platforms, accused of amplifying hate speech. "I think because we've had the 'Unite the Kingdom' rally, we've had the mosque shooting in San Diego, which may have happened in America, but those narratives are very much present here too. This whole week, people have been at a heightened state of concern." Anti-Muslim hate rising Meanwhile, Linsay Taylor, chief executive of Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), also highlighted the importance of increased vigilance and stronger security measures within Muslim communities, noting that many mosques had introduced practical safety measures such as CCTV systems and around-the-clock security. "The Islamophobia Response Unit, the IRU, has published a report about the increased Islamophobia in relation to discrimination and highlighted the rise in cases where they detected roughly a 200% increase in referrals," she said. "We've also had an increase of people reaching out, asking for help, asking for support, highlighting what's happening on the ground in our communities and in our society, so yes, we definitely have seen, and it's not just an increase in the fact that there's been more verbal abuse, it's also an increase on a certain type of attacks," Taylor continued.
Earlier this year, the IRU reported that British Muslims now account for 45 percent of all religious hate crimes in England and Wales, while also recording a 19 percent increase in religious hate crime in recent years. "With Eid being only a couple of days away, there are simple steps that community members can take themselves, such as when going to the mosque, if you can, don't go by yourself," Taylor said. "Make sure that you're going with a family member, or make sure you're going with a group of friends - especially if you're a woman, if you're younger or if you're much older." Both the MCB and MEND have called for stronger regulation of social media platforms and changes in political and media discourse to more effectively tackle Islamophobia. "We do believe that social media should be properly regulated in order to reduce harm, and we think that social media platforms do need to take account of what's happening - as there is a lot of grooming of young people on platforms by the far-right and by others, unfortunately for other awful reasons and intentions," Taylor explained.
"And so we do think that that does need to be taken more seriously, and we do believe that the government needs to engage with that conversation as well," she added.
Such concerns come as anti-Muslim narratives have increasingly intersected with the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party , which made significant gains in recent local elections in England while campaigning heavily on anti-immigration policies. "The Government must do more to protect racialised communities from this rising tide of violence and hate and stop us going down this dangerous path," Amnesty UK's Ilyas Nagdee told TNA .
"They must stand up to far-right narratives, whilst at the same time tackling the root causes of Islamophobia and racism within our society."