AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Trustees and mosque officials in Birmingham, England, at a meeting on mosque security, discussed the concerning increase in attacks by far-right extremist groups on Muslim religious and social centers in the UK. The meeting was organized by the "Faith Associates/Brothers in Faith" group, and its goal was to examine the threat from right-wing racism and Islamophobia-related crimes, as well as to plan for strengthening the protection of places of worship.
At this meeting, imams, mosque trustees, and other Islamic community activists, referring to the noticeable increase in anti-Muslim crimes in recent years, emphasized that Islamophobic propaganda by far-right figures, parties, and media in the UK has led to an escalation of the hostile atmosphere against Muslims and has driven some extreme nationalists toward criminal actions.
Proposed Solutions for Protecting Mosques
According to this report, among the topics raised at this meeting were the enhancement of security training in mosques, more positive engagement with the media, and renewed efforts to increase access to government funds specifically allocated for the protection of religious centers. The issue of intra-community unity among British Muslims was also among the topics that participants considered in need of urgent attention.
Sheikh Rafiq Sufi of the Lancashire Council of Mosques in northwest England proposed the formation of an inclusive body called the "National Council of Mosques" and said that discussions about countering racism have been ongoing for years, but responses have remained slow, and it is necessary for the threat of the far right to be more seriously recognized by the country's governing structure.
In response, the founder of the Huddersfield Council of Mosques in England opposed this proposal, saying that many mosques do not take these incidents seriously until they themselves are directly targeted. He also emphasized that instead of creating new structures, the existing capacities within the Muslim community should be strengthened, coordination should be increased, and resources should be better shared among mosques and Islamic institutions.
Concerning Statistics on Islamophobic Attacks
According to data from the British Muslim Trust, a government-affiliated body monitoring anti-Muslim hate, on average, a mosque is targeted every five days in the country. The British Muslim Trust also warned about the acceleration of these attacks, calling for an immediate government response, and announced that over the past year, more than 70 attacks on mosques in the UK have been recorded, including intimidation, violence, property damage, harassment, anti-Islamic hate speech, online abuse, and vandalism.
According to this report, UK Home Office data also shows that anti-Muslim hate crimes in England and Wales increased by 19 percent in the 12 months leading to March 2025. The three main regions for these attacks were identified as London, Greater Manchester in northwest England, and the West Midlands in central England. Within this framework, it was reported that nine separate attacks on mosques occurred in London, and a mosque in Birmingham was targeted three times over the past 12 months.
Complaints About Difficult Access to Security Funds
Despite the announcement of a budget of up to £40 million for the mosque security scheme, a number of officials present at the Birmingham meeting emphasized that access to these resources remains difficult, and many mosques, despite months having passed since the scheme's announcement, have still not benefited from it.
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