The facts speak for themselves. Work undertaken by the Community Security Trust (CST) and the Jewish Policy Research (JPR) Centre in 2017, in a study entitled Antisemitism in Contemporary Great Britain, suggested that antisemitic attitudes were significantly more prevalent among Muslim respondents of their survey than in the wider population. The prevalence of antisemitic attitudes was two to four times higher among British Muslims than in the general population.
That was almost a decade ago. More recently, CST reports from 2024 onwards have suggested that between 24 and 26 per cent of the perpetrators of antisemitic incidents may be of Middle Eastern, South Asian or possibly Muslim heritage. While not an exact science, these figures, based on observations made by victims, have not changed significantly, indicating an ongoing problem.
Muslims account for around 6 per cent of the UK population, which suggests that they are significantly over-represented among the perpetrators of antisemitic incidents.
This points to a deep, ongoing and persistent problem of antisemitism. Furthermore, since October 7, 2023, antisemitism has undoubtedly become more ingrained and more widespread among some of my co-religionists.
The sad fact is that Islam’s relationship with Judaism and Jewish communities has been supportive and collaborative at times and persecutory at others. Islamic theological and historical narratives have never been reinterpreted or re-examined in order to challenge the inherent power dynamic that placed Jews (and Christians) as second-class citizens in Muslim societies.
The history of Islam is marked by periods of positive coexistence with Jewish communities, but the unspoken fact was that as long as Jews did not challenge Muslim institutions or power structures within a Muslim state, they were “allowed” to exist. Hardly a great example of acceptance, empathy or compassion.
The depressing fact is that there is no central religious or theological authority within British Muslim communities today.
The lack of theological centralisation in Islam is its fundamental weakness and its Achilles’ heel, since it allows third-rate religious leaders, often from cultural backgrounds at odds with modern Britain, to interpret Islamic texts as they see fit. The other sad reality is that many imams operate with the mindset of mini theological dictators. We saw this dangerous dumbing down of Islamic history and theology after October 7, when dozens of mosques hosted imams and preachers who supported the actions of Hamas and who caricatured Jews (and Israel) as the “enemy”. All of this information is available online, and while some of these mosques were registered charities, the Charity Commission and the police were woefully incapable of holding either the imams or the institutions to account.
The message this sent to the wider public was that such language was acceptable. We have therefore reached a point where Muslims like me need to ask some hard questions about Islamic theology, history and religious leaders. this inaction and silence have persisted for far too long, and honesty about the scale of the problem is needed.
Unless brave Islamic theologians and religious leaders are willing to stand up, reinterpret and challenge troubling religious narratives, and call out the deep-seated antisemitism that has taken root in parts of British Muslim communities, this cancer of hatred will deepen the mistrust that has developed between the two communities. It also threatens our shared future on this tiny island.
Failure to act will also send many young Muslims down a dangerous path, posing a risk to the wider nation.
Islam in Britain is not only at a critical juncture; it has also, in far too many instances, been hijacked by antisemites, and I, as a Muslim, will call it out.
Fiyaz Mughal is the founder of Faith Matters, Tell MAMA and Muslims Against Antisemitism
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