Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, a man has pleaded guilty to racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage after graffiti targeting five Muslim institutions was found in east London, meanwhile in the United States, new research finds that proposed mosques face more opposition and delays over parking concerns than nearby churches, raising concerns about anti-Muslim discrimination, and lastly, in Canada, the RCMP is investigating death threats sent to Muslim schools across the country, although police say there is no known imminent threat. Our recommended read of the day is by Federica Marci for Al Jazeera on how Italy’s Muslims are responding to the government’s new burqa and niqab ban, with Muslim groups questioning the policy’s relevance. This and more below:

Italy

‘A false problem’: Italy’s Muslims question Meloni’s burqa ban | Recommended Read

In Milan’s al-Wahid mosque, tucked in a peaceful inner courtyard within the bustling Navigli district, worshippers attending Friday prayers were perplexed by the Italian government’s recent decision to ban the burqa and niqab in schools. Mulayka Laura Enriello, a 58-year-old high school maths teacher, said that while some schoolgirls wear a headscarf, she had never in her career seen students wear face-covering garments. “Those girls who want to wear a (hijab) to school do so, no one bothers them, neither teacher nor student,” she told Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni outlined the proposed ban on Sunday during a rally of her nationalist conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, pitching it as a move towards gender equality. “ The state-run Ansa news agency has reported that as few as 500 to 600 female students currently wear a full-face covering. read the complete article

United States

Beyond stereotypes: Muslim students speak against misconceptions

In recent years, the hate for Muslims, Islamophobia, has become very common. There has been a spread of misinformation and stereotypes towards the Muslim community. Multiple Stan State students have come forward and shared their experiences with Islamophobia and how the misconceptions affected them. Samiya Sanguilan (Senior, Public Health) was born and raised in the Philippines and first arrived in America when she was 10 years old. Her and her family struggled with the culture shock and the lack of a Muslim community. She shares how it’s difficult living in a world as a minority knowing your beliefs may be different. “It’s still very hard living in a western world where we’re such a minority,” she said. “That part is hard, knowing that you are not always going to be accepted everywhere.” She said that it frustrates her when some people make assumptions about her. “I was scared to be criticized for my religion. When people see me, they instantly think I have less freedom,” she said. “I’m more to that than what they portray me as.” read the complete article

Parking policy masks anti-Muslim discrimination for communities building new mosques

When the Islamic Society of Santa Barbara welcomed its community to its newly built mosque in 2019, nearly 19 years had passed since it purchased the property. The city's permitting process alone took 10 years. The project faced delays during 16 public hearings, at which residents of the suburban town of Goleta raised concerns, particularly about where worshippers would park their cars. While such objections might seem legitimate in isolation, a new study led by scholars at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and UCLA finds that Muslim communities building new mosques disproportionately face opposition in the form of parking disputes. The researchers say these procedural delays may often mask anti-Muslim prejudice. Published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, the research shows that newly proposed mosques are 16% to 18% more likely to face opposition than newly proposed churches nearby—significantly more than would be expected by chance. The researchers argue that because both religion and parking provoke fear in many people, the two can become entwined as community members and city officials take actions that delay or derail mosque construction. read the complete article

Anti-South Asian ‘hate speech’ on X surges by 240%, US report finds

Hate speech against Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in the United States has risen sharply online, according to a report that traces the surge to US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and rhetoric, economic anxiety, and the South Asian community’s growing visibility in US life. The report, titled “The Rising Tide of Anti-South Asian Hate in the United States”, by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), published on Sunday, found that the monthly volume of hate towards South Asians in the US on the social media platform X rose 240 percent between January 2024 and June 2026, from 12,904 posts to 43,843. Researchers identified more than 542,000 hateful posts on the platform between January 2025 and June 2026 alone towards people from South Asia living in the US, with five of the six highest-volume months falling at the end of that period. They found that nearly half of the hate posts on X accused South Asians of invading the US, stealing jobs or threatening the country demographically, while the derogatory slur “pajeet” and its variants showed up in 30 percent of hateful posts on X and 45 percent on fringe platforms. Posts depicting South Asians as dirty or unhygienic grew by 171 percent on X, “the fastest of all narratives”. read the complete article

United Kingdom

Anti-Muslim Hate Rises in UK as Mosque Vandal Pleads Guilty

Two separate incidents targeting mosques within days of each other have again put anti-Muslim hate at the centre of national attention, as fresh data confirms the trend is accelerating rather than easing. On 17 September, a Ukrainian national pleaded guilty to a graffiti campaign against five Muslim institutions in east London that investigators say was orchestrated by a Russian-linked network. That same week, Cornwall’s only mosque was rammed by a car and doused in oil in an attack now being investigated as racially aggravated criminal damage. Together, the two cases illustrate how anti-Muslim hate in the UK is being fuelled by both organised, externally-directed extremism and opportunistic local hostility. read the complete article

Minister to explore cash for Northern Ireland communities hit by race riots

A government minister for Northern Ireland has said she will put forward new measures to improve community cohesion and put an “end to hatred” towards Muslim communities in the region. Sarah Owen, who is parliamentary under-secretary for Northern Ireland as well as MP for Luton North, made the comments on Sunday during a discussion event hosted by the thinktank Equi at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Racist riots broke out in Belfast this summer after the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie on 8 June, with rioters targeting migrants’ homes and businesses. Minority-owned businesses were also attacked during far-right riots in summer 2024, with some completely destroyed. Overall, the most diverse area of Belfast saw a 161% increase in racist crimes between 2016 and 2025. read the complete article

India

Ismat Ara on India’s Crackdown on Love

Love and marriage across religious and caste lines have always been frowned upon and forbidden in India. However, Hindu right-wing organizations have taken this to a new extreme by conjuring up a conspiracy theory they term “love jihad.” India is witnessing a systematic strategy being implemented by Hindutva activists to not just prevent Hindu women from marrying Muslim men but to malign the latter by ascribing to them sinister motives of enticing Hindu women with false promises of love and marriage for the sole purpose of converting them to Islam. Bharatiya Janata Party politicians have used the “love jihad” bogey to deepen Hindu anxieties and polarize society. BJP governments in several states have enacted anti-religious conversion laws. Meanwhile, right-wing goons have wreaked enormous havoc in the lives of young couples who dare to love across religious lines. In her recent book, “Under a Saffron Sky: Inside India’s Crackdown on Love,” author Ismat Ara recounts the enormous stress and suffering that Hindu-Muslim couples experience. She draws attention to how the “love jihad” “myth” has come to “define an entire community.” In an interview with The Diplomat’s South Asia editor, Sudha Ramachandran, Ara pointed out that while an interfaith relationship is a private matter between two people, “within the ‘love jihad’ narrative, the Muslim man is reimagined as part of a larger, organized project to convert Hindu women, increase the Muslim population, and eventually alter the country’s demographic and religious character.” read the complete article

Canada

RCMP confirm investigation into death threat sent to Muslim schools

The RCMP are among more than a half-dozen police forces probing a threat sent to Islamic schools across the country, the national police force confirmed to CBC News. "Law enforcement agencies are working collaboratively with school leadership to investigate the reported threats and assess all available information," the RCMP said in a statement on Monday afternoon. "We remain committed to public safety and encourage anyone with information or concerns to report them to police." The RCMP said their northwest region is looking into the note, a division that covers the Prairie provinces as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. As of Friday, the note was sent to multiple schools in the Muslim Association of Canada's network, mostly in Ontario but also in Montreal and Vancouver. read the complete article

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