The brutal murder of a woman in the UK capital has highlighted the increasing level of Islamophobia that has crept into British society after a backlash against Muslims followed the incident, even though the murderer was not a Muslim. The Telegraph, amongst other media outlets, reported that the murderer is thought to be a convert to Islam without solid evidence. Fiyaz Mughal, director of Tell Mama, told The Guardian newspaper that the think tank recorded a sudden spike in the number of threats made against Muslims and mosques on social media as well as in the streets of Britain. “The assumption is that ‘beheading equals Muslim.’ The association, for some, is an automatic response,” Mughal said.
British Muslims this year have also been the target of a scandal covered extensively by the media alleging that they were trying to ‘take over’ control of a public school in Birmingham, an accusation local Muslims deny. More recently, measures are being put in place to confiscate the passports of British Muslims who are suspected of participating in the war in Syria.
