By raising awareness, advocating for policy change, and celebrating the contributions of British Muslims, we can succeed in giving British Muslims the opportunities needed to thrive, writes Afzal Khan MP
Fighting against Islamophobia and supporting opportunities for British Muslims has been at the heart of my political work long before I was first elected as a Councillor to Manchester City Council in 2000. Now, as a Muslim MP, with a large Muslim community in my constituency, the fight against Islamophobia remains a top priority for me.
Shocking data published last year showed that in the year to February 2024, there was a recorded 335% increase in hate cases against Muslims compared with the previous year. Most of the hate recorded was against women. This was added to by the racist riots that took place over the summer, where hatred and violence was aimed at Muslims, and Mosques were targeted.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, that I have been a leading member of, initiated an inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia in 2018. It ultimately established that Islamophobia is rooted in racism, and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.
In recent charged political debates, I was shocked to hear the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, claim that this definition of Islamophobia, as agreed by the APPG for British Muslims, said “talking about sex groomers was an example of Islamophobia” in Prime Minister’s Questions. This is categorically untrue.
The definition does not impede free speech or stop us from holding criminals to account. Hearing the Tory Leader completely misrepresent that work is misleading, and distracts from urgent conversations on grooming, exploitation and protecting vulnerable people in our society. It has been disheartening to see parliamentary colleagues use misleading information to score political points in this way, at the expense of the Muslim community.
Violence, hate and threatening behaviour like this act as a constant incentive for my fight against Islamophobia – now more than ever.
That is why I continue to support efforts to raise awareness with annual events, such as the United Nations International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and Islamophobia Awareness Month annually in November.
Along with incredible campaigners, I have worked to improve understanding of the realities of Islamophobia with Parliamentary colleagues, encouraged the Prime Minister and other senior Ministers to condemn Islamophobia and sponsored the launches of reports on anti-Muslim hate crime.
I have been particularly interested in looking at the ways that faith intersects with other issues, like the role of faith in climate action, intersecting discrimination facing Muslim women, and promoting relations between the UK and Muslim-majority countries. These topics have provided different approaches to these wider conversations and has shown how the contributions of often go unrecognised.
This is an aspect of the conversation on British Muslims that is often lacking: the celebration of countless positive contributions of British Muslims. Generating over £70 billion a year, the UK economy is consistently benefitting from the British Muslim community’s taxes, original businesses, and banking. This is to say nothing of British Muslim charitable donations adding up to £1.79 billion annually and time spent volunteering being equivalent to £622 million.
Yet, according to the 2021 census, almost 40% of all British Muslims lived in the most deprived areas of the UK, meaning many face poor economic conditions, intergenerational poverty and have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
While the fight against Islamophobia is far from over, it was encouraging to hear the Government’s recent commitment to finally define Islamophobia through a new working group. However, we must learn from the inaction of the previous Government by making this consultation timely and comprehensive.
The campaign for a working definition has been going on for too long. Supported by political parties, councils, mayoral authorities and trade unions, progress has been promising, but we need to keep up this momentum. I hope that this recent announcement will finally provide an effective definition, and I will continue to push the Government until this happens.
By raising awareness, advocating for policy change, and celebrating the contributions of British Muslims, we can succeed in giving British Muslims the opportunities needed to thrive.
