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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles wrote on X last week “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” which represents a “doubling down” on previous incendiary statements made by the congressman, elsewhere in the US, Alabama Republicans have ramped up attacks on Muslims with representatives like GOP gubernatorial hopeful Tommy Tuberville landing on CAIR’s list of anti-Muslim extremists for his history of Islamophobia, and lastly in the United Kingdom, Muslims breaking their fast at a public Iftar in Trafalgar Square have been labeled an “act of domination” by Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy in words drawing praise from anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson. Our recommended read of the day is by Mark Silk for Religion News Service, who writes on how GOP politicians are reviving anti-Sharia rhetoric and Islamophobic tropes in an effort to sway waning public opinion in the lead-up to election season. This and more below:
United States
Political Islamophobia is back | Recommended Read
In case you haven’t noticed, Republican politicians are back to playing the anti-Shariah card. Examples are legion, but start with last September, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill banning so-called Shariah compounds in his state. A group of congressional Republicans, meanwhile, has formed a “Sharia-Free America Caucus,” and bills to keep America Shariah-free have been introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a candidate for governor in Alabama, and U.S. Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Randy Fine of Florida. A Georgia candidate for lieutenant governor has posted a scary video about Shariah taking over the U.S. What lies behind this is no mystery: The GOP is desperately seeking an issue to prevent what looks to be a disastrous midterm election in November. What worked in 2024 doesn’t look so good in 2026. High prices? Tariffs have kept them up. Foreign wars? They’re back. Illegal immigrants? Thanks, ICE, for taking that off the table. Which pretty much leaves “men-in-women’s-sports” to get the juices flowing. But if you can’t hold on to Mar-a-Lago’s own state House seat in March, you’d better come up with something better. Wherefore: Shariah, or, in King Solomon’s proverbial words, “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” read the complete article
'We’re not strangers': How a Baltimore masjid’s relatable videos led to Instagram fame
When Hasan Hammad created a Facebook page for his Baltimore-area mosque in 2011, his goal was to expand the ways community members could learn about its programming — not to one day attract millions of views. But over the last few years, the Islamic Society of Baltimore, one of the largest Islamic congregations in Maryland, has exploded its reach across social media platforms, boasting almost 300,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 200,000 on TikTok. Online, it’s earned the nickname “TikTok masjid” (the Arabic term for mosque). Through candid interviews with community members about masjid activities, ISB’s content highlights the everyday aspects of Islam in America. “Our videos highlight that everything non-Muslim Americans engage in — whether it’s sports, food, activities, arts and crafts — we all do them too,” Hammad told RNS. “We’re no different than other Americans.” Its rising access to a global audience places the masjid within a larger digital culture committed to advocating for and humanizing the Muslim experience at a time when a revival of conspiracies about the religion appears to be formulating. The carefully curated content is both about building a better understanding of Islam among non-Muslims and helping Muslims around the world see their daily life represented and supported in public online spaces. read the complete article
This congressman says Muslims ‘don’t belong’ in the US. How does he keep winning a district with so many?
Andy Ogles represents more Muslims than any other Tennessee congressman. Yet he has no interest in representing them. He doesn’t even want them in the country. “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” the third-term Republican wrote on Twitter/X last week. He’s proudly doubled down on his incendiary statement, which joins a long list of Islamophobic beliefs. During last year’s New York City mayoral campaign, Ogles called Zohran Mamdani “a communist who has publicly embraced a terroristic ideology”. The US naturalization system, he said, required “any alignments with communism or terrorist activities to be disclosed. I’m doubtful he disclosed them. If this is confirmed, put him on the first flight back to Uganda.” How is it possible that someone under a cloud of scandal, and willing to denigrate his own constituents, can win re-election by double digits? Ogles is the poster child for the absurdity and unaccountability that ensue when some of the most toxic forces in our politics collide: gerrymandering, noncompetitive districts and crowded, one-party primaries. Of course, he’s not the only one. We have a Congress filled with people like Andy Ogles – members who would rather stake out extreme ground on social media than work cooperatively and represent everyone, members happy to denaturalize their constituents – because our broken system has turned political incentives inside-out. read the complete article
‘Dehumanizing:’ Alabama GOP candidates accelerate attacks on Muslims
Corey Saylor said that attacks on Muslims like himself, while not new, are just political attacks and are not unique to people of the Islamic faith. “It seems to be, you can’t look anywhere without having some politician trying to compete with others on how hard they can bash on the practice of a faith that’s been in the United States since pre-colonial times,” said Saylor, director of research and policy for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who has practiced Islam for over 35 years. “That’s really unfortunate, because it’s politicians ignoring the issues that are really of concern to Americans, such as gas prices going up, grocery prices going up. Is my Social Security going to be funded? And simply just saying, look at the Muslims, look at the Muslims, and trying to spread fear.” In recent months, Alabama Republicans have ramped up attacks on Muslims, a small percentage of the state’s population. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, seeking the GOP nomination for governor, has made ever more aggressive attacks on people of the Islamic faith that have led CAIR to put him on a list of anti-Muslim extremists. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Wes Allen, running for the GOP nomination for Alabama lieutenant governor, attacked former Alabama Republican Party chair John Wahl for attending an interfaith event during Ramadan earlier this month at the Anniston Islamic Center. Saylor said the attacks were “the type of speech that you see when you’re preparing a population for really extreme policies.” “It’s dehumanizing, and it makes people afraid of that population, and tries to paint them as an immediate threat,” he said. read the complete article
Tuberville’s anti-Muslim crusade feeds his worst instincts
Darkness begets darkness; hope begets hope. It’s much better to do something productive than to stew in a toxic digital spiral. Sometimes it’s time to put down the phone and weed the garden. Tommy Tuberville is spending a lot of time feeding the wrong instincts. As a U.S. senator, he has the power to steer Alabama toward all kinds of productive ends. Instead, he’s keeping busy on X, railing relentlessly against a horde of perceived enemies, including Democrats, transgender people, and Muslims. It’s alarmist, Trumpian, bitterly divisive and often factually incorrect. At the top of his profile, he’s pinned a shocking post from earlier this month that shows split-screen images of Zohran Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, and the World Trade Center on 9/11, captioned: “The enemy is inside the gates.” That post went viral in the worst way. He doubled down a week later with another post calling out Mamdani, paired with the same caption. Tuberville, on the other hand, is embracing reactionary radicalism – and has been for a while. His well-worn rhetoric is so offensive that last year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations designated him an anti-Muslim extremist, a label he says is “a badge of honor.” Meanwhile, the U.S. is raining unprovoked terror from the skies in Iran. We’re the ones who bombed a school full of girls mere weeks ago. If you want to point to global threats, we’re high on the list. The current administration is lethal, unpredictable, and unmerciful – a terrible combination. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Prayers by Muslims in public are not a threat
The Bishop of Willesden, in the diocese of London, the Rt Revd Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, who is the lead bishop for interfaith engagement, criticising Mr Timothy’s comments, said that “to suggest that such an event is somehow threatening risks misunderstanding both the nature of religious expression and the character of our national life.” It is not the event itself that is a new development so much as the hostility of the reaction. Public spaces, from Trafalgar Square to Wembley Stadium, have hosted iftars, Chanukah celebrations, Vaisakhi events, and carol services for years. As the Bishop of Kirkstall, in Leeds diocese, the Rt Revd Arun Arora, noted, Christian acts of remembrance and lament took place metres away every November, and Christians would gather there in Holy Week for the annual re-enactment of Christ’s Passion. THE heightened attention and animosity this year, with the throwing around of hyperbolic language such as “domination”, should concern us all at a time when cohesion between communities is stretched and our national identity is contested. There has been a demonstrable rise in anti-Muslim hatred in recent years, and, this week, an arson attack on a Jewish ambulance service is being investigated as alleged anti-Semitism. Elsewhere, there has been booing from football crowds in response to matches pausing to allow Muslim players to break their fast pitchside. read the complete article
Scouts defend Islamophobia awareness badge: ‘All our badges attract scrutiny’
The governing body for scouting organisations in Britain has unveiled a new badge dedicated to teaching youngsters about Muslim life and history. Scouts UK said it hoped the creation of the Islamophobia Awareness Month badge, with support from the Muslim Scout Fellowship, would “promote understanding, respect and inclusivity in scouts, as well as in the wider community”. As a “blanket badge” rather than a uniform badge, it can be purchased for £1.80 by any scout without completing any requirements or tasks. Scouts UK, however, has made suggestions about how scouts can learn about Islam and Muslim community leaders, such as visiting a mosque or carrying out a joint activity with a local predominantly Muslim Scout group. “We are an educational organisation,” said Scouts UK spokesperson Simon Carter. “Our job is to help young people take an active, positive role in their community.” read the complete article
Sharing samosas with non-Muslim friends is not an act of ‘domination’
Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, was furious last week. “Straight from the Islamist playbook, an act of domination,” he declared. Nigel Farage soon joined in. “We are not going to surrender,” he said, adopting the tone of a wartime leader addressing a nation under siege, as though the spirit of Winston Churchill had been hastily repurposed for a very different battlefield. But what had provoked such outrage? Muslims breaking their fast at an Open Iftar organised by the Ramadan Tent Project in Trafalgar Square. Hardly the Blitz. Plates of samosas and sunset prayers had sent sections of our political and media class into meltdown. Timothy’s comments drew praise from the UK Islamophobe-in-chief Tommy Robinson, who noted that such rhetoric would once have been unacceptable in mainstream politics. Yet Timothy remains on the Conservative frontbench, backed by the party leader, Kemi Badenoch. What we are witnessing from Timothy is not genuine concern about public order or social cohesion. It is part of a familiar pattern. A moral panic about Muslims, dressed up in the language of national survival. In recent years, this rhetoric has become louder, more theatrical and increasingly detached from everyday reality. read the complete article