AhlulBayt News Agency: A Muslim woman has spoken of vile Islamophobic abuse in which friends had veils ripped from their faces and were threatened with burning if they covered up again. The incident in Birmingham, England deterred her friends from wearing their veils in the future.
But Meena Bibi said despite verbal, and physical abuse, she, and other Muslim women should be openly proud of their faith. Speaking during Islamophobia Awareness Month, which runs throughout November, said said the bigots would never win and deter her from her own faith.
Meena works in the heart of Aston connecting women to life-changing opportunities. She’s also a proud Muslim woman who wears the hijab.
"I won't stop being proud about being a British-Bangladeshi Muslim woman," she said, "and anyone who thinks they can keep us from practising our faith because of their ignorance will never win. We have a right, and I encourage every Muslim to feel proud about that."
While her faith is unwavering, there are days Meena admits she’s anxious she could be attacked for wearing her hijab. Meena moved to Birmingham from Coventry in 2003.
The move was ‘scary’ she said, telling BirminghamLive: “As soon as I had moved to Birmingham I was hearing of attacks on Muslim women in the area." Two family friends who lived in the same area as Meena had recently gone to Suadi to perform Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of the year, and decided to wear the veil after their trip.
Soon the women were harassed and physically attacked. Meena said this was the moment she feared being a Muslim woman in Birmingham in the early 21st century.
She said: “Kids local to the area began calling the women ‘ninjas’. Every time the ladies were out these boys would harass and call them ‘Ninjas’ or ‘letterboxes’.
“There was a language barrier for the ladies and they couldn’t defend themselves.” Verbal abuse soon escalated to the physical.
Meena said: “One day the boys pulled the veil off of one of the woman’s face and threaten to burn their faces if they wore it again.
“They came to me shaken and scared, but I knew we had to do something and not let these boys get away with hurting someone like that.”
Although the incident happened in 2007 neither woman returned to wearing the veil. And figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request submitted by BirminghamLive, show the fear of openly displaying their faith is justified.
The data shows West Midlands Police recorded 386 Islamophobic hate offences in 2021. Of those, 192 attacks were aimed at Muslim women but it’s a figure that doesn’t shock Meena as she explained the experience of being a woman and Muslims often come into contact with each other.
She said: “I’m not shocked at the number but didn’t expect it to be that high because so many women don’t talk about it. It can be scary to be a Muslim woman at times. You can be on guard because you’re a woman and Muslim, but I’ve found being in a community that is majority Muslim and women that wear the hijab, I feel safe."
Since West Midlands Police began recording Islamophobic offences data has shown annual rises. It is unclear if the frequency of incidents has risen, or if the recording of them has improved.
Speaking about how police forces are recording Islamophobic attacks, Mashukra Begum, chair of the Aston community centre Saathi House, said ‘better methods need to be adopted quickly to tackle the rise in islamophobia.
"Methods for monitoring hate crime and lower barriers for reporting should be improved, with many young Muslims reporting a very high threshold for what they consider worth talking about, as well as a sense that police will not take concerns seriously.
"This could include the recording of crimes with Islamophobia as a motivational factor at a national level, which would improve awareness of the scale of the problem."
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But Meena Bibi said despite verbal, and physical abuse, she, and other Muslim women should be openly proud of their faith. Speaking during Islamophobia Awareness Month, which runs throughout November, said said the bigots would never win and deter her from her own faith.
Meena works in the heart of Aston connecting women to life-changing opportunities. She’s also a proud Muslim woman who wears the hijab.
"I won't stop being proud about being a British-Bangladeshi Muslim woman," she said, "and anyone who thinks they can keep us from practising our faith because of their ignorance will never win. We have a right, and I encourage every Muslim to feel proud about that."
While her faith is unwavering, there are days Meena admits she’s anxious she could be attacked for wearing her hijab. Meena moved to Birmingham from Coventry in 2003.
The move was ‘scary’ she said, telling BirminghamLive: “As soon as I had moved to Birmingham I was hearing of attacks on Muslim women in the area." Two family friends who lived in the same area as Meena had recently gone to Suadi to perform Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of the year, and decided to wear the veil after their trip.
Soon the women were harassed and physically attacked. Meena said this was the moment she feared being a Muslim woman in Birmingham in the early 21st century.
She said: “Kids local to the area began calling the women ‘ninjas’. Every time the ladies were out these boys would harass and call them ‘Ninjas’ or ‘letterboxes’.
“There was a language barrier for the ladies and they couldn’t defend themselves.” Verbal abuse soon escalated to the physical.
Meena said: “One day the boys pulled the veil off of one of the woman’s face and threaten to burn their faces if they wore it again.
“They came to me shaken and scared, but I knew we had to do something and not let these boys get away with hurting someone like that.”
Although the incident happened in 2007 neither woman returned to wearing the veil. And figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request submitted by BirminghamLive, show the fear of openly displaying their faith is justified.
The data shows West Midlands Police recorded 386 Islamophobic hate offences in 2021. Of those, 192 attacks were aimed at Muslim women but it’s a figure that doesn’t shock Meena as she explained the experience of being a woman and Muslims often come into contact with each other.
She said: “I’m not shocked at the number but didn’t expect it to be that high because so many women don’t talk about it. It can be scary to be a Muslim woman at times. You can be on guard because you’re a woman and Muslim, but I’ve found being in a community that is majority Muslim and women that wear the hijab, I feel safe."
Since West Midlands Police began recording Islamophobic offences data has shown annual rises. It is unclear if the frequency of incidents has risen, or if the recording of them has improved.
Speaking about how police forces are recording Islamophobic attacks, Mashukra Begum, chair of the Aston community centre Saathi House, said ‘better methods need to be adopted quickly to tackle the rise in islamophobia.
"Methods for monitoring hate crime and lower barriers for reporting should be improved, with many young Muslims reporting a very high threshold for what they consider worth talking about, as well as a sense that police will not take concerns seriously.
"This could include the recording of crimes with Islamophobia as a motivational factor at a national level, which would improve awareness of the scale of the problem."
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