Muslim Census survey of 1,519 reveals damning impact of recent riots on the UK Muslim community.
A staggering 92% of respondents in the latest Muslim Census survey said they now felt “much less safe” (68%) or “somewhat less safe” (24%) living in the UK following the recent riots across the country.
Introduction
In the midst of riots across the country, the likes we have not seen for decades, Muslim Census looked to capture the current sentiment and experiences of Muslims living in the UK. Through an online survey published to the Muslim Census user panel, 1,519 Muslims have shared their views and highlighted a growing sense of insecurity in the state of the nation. For more on the methodology of the survey, please see the end of the article.
1 in 6 Muslims have personally experienced an Islamophobic or Racist incident in the past week
Initially fuelled by misinformation online following the tragic Southport murder of three innocent children, hundreds and thousands of individuals took to the streets across the country. What followed was a targeted attack on Mosques, looting of shops and violent attacks on Black and Asian communities. We have seen and heard offensive chants, homes damaged, and physical assault and arson attacks on both individuals and the police.
Out of our 1,519 respondents, 51% have experienced an Islamophobic or Racist incident directed at them personally in the past year – with 1 in 6 Muslims experiencing such an incident in just the past week. A verbal attack is the most commonly faced by Muslims with 28% having such an experience, followed by 16% facing abuse online. 4% of our respondents have unfortunately experienced a physical attack.
A further 2 in 3 Muslims from our respondents have personally witnessed an Islamophobic or Racist incident faced by another Muslim.
It is then no surprise that a staggering 92% of respondents in the latest Muslim Census survey said they now felt “much less safe” (68%) or “somewhat less safe” (24%) living in the UK following the recent riots across the country.
When asked “To what extent do you think Islamophobia is a problem in the UK today?”, 96% stated they felt it was either a “very big problem” (72%) or a “fairly big problem” (24%).
Over the past 5 years, 80% of our respondents felt Islamophobia had increased a lot.
Muslims changing their plans due to safety concerns
With the titled “Anti-Muslim” riots seeming to continue, 70% of our respondents stated that they have had to alter their plans in the past week due to rising concerns over their safety. Many are worried with whatsapp messages spreading encouraging the Muslim community to stay indoors, and stay alert.
The government and the police have responded quickly. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, has announced emergency measures to protect mosques with £29.4mil ready to be deployed, and the police have arrested 100s of individuals, with some already being charged.
For the Muslim community, it appears to be a stoking of an underlying trend. According to independent Home Office figures on the faith communities that receive the largest amount of hate, in 2022-23, 44% of incidents were against the Muslim community. Respondents to our survey claim Social Media and Traditional Media are playing the most significant role in the rise in Islamophobia, a problem the government may have to intervene and regulate moving forwards.
Methodology
Data collection took place via an online survey from the 5th of August, to the 6th of August. The survey was distributed directly to the Muslim Census user panel and is weighted to represent the Muslim population in the UK using ONS Census 2021 data. The results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The margin of error varies based on the size of the sample. In this particular study with close to 1,500 responses, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3% from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
Please see the breakdown of the sample by clicking here.