Today in Islamophobia

In the United Kingdom, a British school with hundreds of Muslim students was evacuated after it was subjected to a bomb threat on Tuesday, according to local media, meanwhile in Australia, the federal government will establish an education taskforce aimed at tackling Islamophobia and training politicians and public servants as part of its response to the special envoy to combat Islamophobia’s recent landmark report, and lastly in the United States, a Utah man told police he repeatedly stabbed a Muslim man because of the man’s faith and intended to kill him, according to court records filed Monday. Our recommended read of the day is by Professor Junaid S. Ahmad for Muslim Matters, on the legacy of Professor John Esposito, Founding Director of ACMCU and The Bridge Initiative who passed away earlier this week. This and more below:

United States

The Legacy Of Professor John Esposito: The Scholar Who Refused To Turn Islam Into An Enemy | Recommend Read

There are scholars who interpret the world, scholars who flatter it, and scholars who quietly make it less cruel. John L. Esposito belonged emphatically to the third category. His passing deprives us not merely of a distinguished academic, but of something now far rarer: a genuine public intellectual — one who understood that scholarship is not an ornamental profession but a moral vocation. Esposito may well have been the last great public intellectual in the field now called Islamophobia studies, although he used the term less frequently than many who later made an industry of it. Long before Islamophobia became a conference theme, a specialized vocabulary, or an academic career track, he was confronting its most consequential forms: the intellectual caricatures that shaped journalism, diplomacy, public opinion, and American foreign policy. He did not simply describe prejudice against Muslims. He disrupted the machinery that produced it. His method was deceptively radical: he studied Muslims in order to understand them. That proposition sounds almost embarrassingly obvious. Yet Esposito entered a field in which influential Western scholars routinely approached Islamic movements as pathologies to be diagnosed, security threats to be contained, or civilizational irritants to be explained away. He refused this intellectual laziness. read the complete article

John Esposito, pioneering scholar of Islam in the US, dies aged 86

Professor John L Esposito, widely regarded as one of the most influential non-Muslim scholars of Islam of his generation, has died at the age of 86, his family and Georgetown University have said. Esposito passed away on July 15, following a career spanning more than five decades in which he sought – through dozens of books and a lifetime of teaching – to correct Western misconceptions about Islam and to build lasting channels of dialogue between Muslims and the societies around them. At Georgetown, Esposito held the title of University Professor of Religion, International Affairs and Islamic Studies, and in 1993 he founded the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, later renamed the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Under his direction, the centre grew into one of the world’s foremost institutions for interfaith dialogue, and he later launched the Bridge Initiative, a research project dedicated to tracking and challenging Islamophobia. read the complete article

Muslim man in Utah was targeted in stabbing because of his religion, police say

A Utah man told police he repeatedly stabbed a Muslim man because of the man's faith and intended to kill him, according to court records filed Monday. The Muslim man survived the attack Monday afternoon at a mall southeast of Salt Lake City. But he's expected to face a long recovery after suffering more than 15 stab wounds, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help with medical expenses. Bystanders were able to get the knife out of the suspect's hand before police arrived at the scene at Valley Fair Mall, court records show. The suspect, Peter Michael Larsen, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and carrying a prohibited dangerous weapon. He told police he targeted the employee over his religious beliefs, according to the court records, which didn't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf. read the complete article

Republican-fueled Islamophobia cited as cause of more attacks

Numerous recent attacks and threats of violence against Muslims have been inspired in part by Islamophobic statements from Republican politicians, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The civil rights group on July 14 urged “elected officials and other public and community leaders to unequivocally repudiate anti-Muslim rhetoric and to reject those who promote it following the allegedly hate-motivated stabbing of a Muslim man in Utah.” Conservatives have increasingly relied on Islamophobia to rally their MAGA base heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Republican leaders in Texas and Florida this year declared Muslim groups like CAIR to be terrorist groups, while Republicans in Congress launched the Sharia Free America Caucus. But CAIR issued a warning July 15 that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is stoking violence with his consistent claim that “Islam is not a religion. It’s a death cult.” read the complete article

US hosts global meet on ‘far-left terror’: Who’s attending, why it matters

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting more than 65 countries for a conference focused on political violence from the far left, a designation that a number of critics say is being used to target legitimate opposition. The “Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism”, taking place on Thursday, brings together government representatives from around the world to coordinate on what the US Department of State calls a “renewed threat” that has “remained a blind spot in the international community’s counterterrorism focus”. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Reuters news agency that “the far-left terrorism designations could be used to target lawful protest activity and political opponents rather than genuine security threats.” The Trump administration’s 2026 counterterrorism strategy identifies three primary threats: “Islamist terrorism”, “narco-terrorism”, and “violent left-wing extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists”. read the complete article

United Kingdom

Fourteen-year-old boy charged over alleged plot targeting London mosques

A 14-year-old boy arrested by British police has been charged with a crime related to “terrorism” over an alleged plot to target local mosques. London’s Metropolitan Police revealed the charge against the unnamed boy on Wednesday, saying he was suspected of preparing to carry out an “act of terrorism” in connection with “extreme right-wing” ideology. “This is a very ⁠serious terrorism charge ⁠against a young boy and likely to be highly concerning to the public and ⁠the local community,” said Helen Flanagan, head of ⁠counterterrorism policing in London. Police said they did not believe the ‌case pointed to a wider threat, but added that they had contacted the mosques, located in south London’s Sutton area, and offered advice and support. “We know this will be particularly concerning to the Muslim community and we are working closely with the venues affected to ensure they are kept updated and to provide advice, support and reassurance, and this will continue,” said Flanagan. read the complete article

UK school with hundreds of Muslim students evacuated after bomb threat

A British school with hundreds of Muslim students was evacuated after it was subjected to a bomb threat on Tuesday, local media reported. Birmingham Live reported Hamd House School, in Birmingham, was swept by police on the final day of the academic year due to the threat. The school has 450 pupils aged between 11 and 16. It is a private school run with a Muslim ethos. The bomb threat was sent in an email to the school on Tuesday morning, with schools regulator Ofsted copied into the correspondence. “School was full and pupils were celebrating the last day before summer, we were giving out awards and having a day of celebration and fun on this special day, and this was hugely disrupting,” Israr Khan, the school’s proprietor, was quoted as saying by Birmingham Live. He added that the school appeared to have been deliberately targeted, and that there had been other recent incidents against staff and the school. read the complete article

Australia

Government expected to rebuff key recommendations to tackle Islamophobia

The federal government will establish an education taskforce aimed at tackling Islamophobia and training politicians and public servants as part of its response to the special envoy to combat Islamophobia's landmark report. But SBS News understands the government will not endorse several of the 54 recommendations Aftab Malik put forward in his report handed to the prime minister 10 months ago, casting doubt from Muslim community leaders over the government's commitments to adequately tackle Islamophobia. Malik called for a ban on religious discrimination, for Muslims to join Sikhs and Jews in being explicitly protected in existing racial discrimination laws, and an independent review into counterterrorism laws to investigate whether Muslims in Australia were discriminated against. read the complete article

Think we missed something, or have suggestions for what you’d like to see here?
Contact us at: bridge@georgetown.edu