Al Jazeera, UK media biased against Muslims, says group that analysed 40,000 articles, 9 Mar 2026

"Centre for Media Monitoring reports right-wing outlets The Spectator and GB News often malign Muslims and their faith."

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Report: ‘Belonging, Belief & Britishness‘

I haven't looked into this report (or the 'Institute') yet:

Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life, Report – Belonging, Belief & Britishness: Exploring the British Muslim Experience on Their Own Terms, 31 March 2025

"This report by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life examines the diversity of British Muslims and the relationships they have with Britain today. The study combines quantitative and qualitative analysis, based on a poll of 815 adult British Muslims commissioned by IIFL and conducted by Whitestone Insight (a member of the British Polling Council), as well as a series of interviews with a smaller sample of British Muslims, who were asked about the findings of the survey and wider topics."

Statistics

Statista published the following (note: full data are behind a paywall):

D. Clark, Views on Muslims in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by region, Statista, 2 Feb 2024 "This statistic shows the results of a survey of British adults which asked them to indicate how positive or negative their views on Muslims in the UK were in 2018, by region. Respondents in Scotland viewed Muslims the most positively, followed by London and the North of England."

D. Clark, Number of masjids in the United Kingdom in 2017, , Statista, 2 Feb 2024"This statistic displays the number of mosques in the United Kingdom in 2017, by capacity. In this year there were 300 masjids in the United Kingdom with a capacity between 101 to 200 people. This was the most common size for a masjid in the United Kingdom. It was followed by 279 masjids with a capacity for between 201 and 300 people. In 2017 there were only ten masjids in the United Kingdom that had a capacity for over 4,000 people."

Bradford Muslim Communities

BBC News, Fewer cousins marrying in Bradford's Pakistani community, 18 November 2023 "The number of people in Bradford's Pakistani community who have married a cousin has fallen sharply in the past 10 years, a study suggests. Higher educational attainment, new family dynamics and changes in immigration rules are thought to be possible reasons."

Gen Z Muslims

Burhan Wazir, Hyphen Online, Exclusive: Young, optimistic and devout — Gen Z Muslims in the UK "Muslims aged between 16 and 24 are buoyant about their economic and social futures, but Islamophobia is a persistent problem." This report is part of wider research undertaken by Hyphen.

Fatima Cates

BBC News, Fatima Cates: Victorian woman who helped set up UK's first mosque honoured "Born Francess Elizabeth Murray, she is believed to be the first woman to convert to Islam on British soil when she became a Muslim in 1887." Also see Hamid Mahmood and Yahya Birt, Beacon Books, Our Fatima of Liverpool: The Story of Fatima Cates, the Victorian woman who helped found British Islam

Prayer UK

Clea Skopeliti and Guardian readers, The Guardian, ‘God gives me reason to hope’: why young Britons are turning to prayer, 2 Sep 2022 "More young people in the UK are turning to prayer compared with 20 years ago, with one in three 18- to 36-year-olds saying they had prayed within the past month, a survey has revealed."

Poll Results

Hyphen, Exclusive: the majority of British Muslims believe that life in the UK is better than it was five years ago, 7 June 2022 "The nationwide survey asked more than 1,500 UK Muslims about their socioeconomic standing and future aspirations. The results reveal broad optimism in a number of areas. Over half (53%) said that their lives are better than five years ago, while 68% noted an increased participation in society by Muslims over the same period."

'Local Muslim Representation'

Muslim Council of Britain, Local Muslim Representation: Empowering Council of Mosques and Local Umbrella Organisations (PDF) "The report makes several recommendations for Muslim civil society and Local Authorities around increased knowledge and experience sharing, greater recruitment of women and youth, financial sustainability and further engagement with local authorities."

Digital British Islam

UWTSD, £800k ESRC funding awarded to new UWTSD led research project

This relates to my new research project, for which I am Principal Investigator: "The three-year project, entitled ‘Digital British Islam: How do Cyber Islamic Environments impact everyday life?’, is an innovative multi-institution project led by Professor Gary R. Bunt. As the Principal Investigator, Professor Bunt will work in collaboration with Co-Investigator Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Coventry University) and Co-Investigator Professor Frédéric Volpi (University of Edinburgh). The team also includes two research fellows, Dr Khadijah Elshayyal and Dr Sadek Hamid, along with two Post-Doctoral Research Assistants (to be appointed)."

PCYDDS, £800 mil o gyllid ESRC wedi ei rhoi i brosiect ymchwil newydd a arweinir gan y Drindod Dewi Sant "Mae’r prosiect tair blynedd, o’r enw ‘Digital British Islam: How do Cyber Islamic Environments impact everyday life?’, yn brosiect arloesol aml-sefydliad a arweinir gan Yr Athro Gary R. Bunt. Fel y Prif Ymchwilydd, bydd Yr Athro Bunt yn gweithio mewn cydweithrediad â’r Cyd-Ymchwilydd Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Prifysgol Coventry) a’r Cyd-Ymchwilydd Yr Athro Frédéric Volpi (Prifysgol Caeredin). Mae’r tîm hefyd yn cynnwys dau gymrawd ymchwil, Dr Khadijah Elshayyal a Dr Sadek Hamid, ynghyd â dau Gynorthwyydd Ymchwil Ôl-Doethurol (i’w penodi)."

Afghanistan in Crisis

Extensive coverage on the Afghanistan situation is on the Virtually Islamic blog, including general articles and social media posts.

Taxi Drivers Abused

Aasma Day, i Newspaper, Taxi drivers suffer racist abuse on a daily basis – but don’t report it as it’s a ‘normal part of the job’, 17 Aug 2021

"Dr Karamat Iqbal, an academic who works in race, equality and diversity, decided to research racial abuse of taxi drivers after seeing a shocking video of a taxi driver subjected to a racial rant from a passenger."

Representing Muslims On-Screen

BBC News, Actor Riz Ahmed wants to stop Hollywood's 'toxic portrayals' of Muslims

"The study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, titled Missing and Maligned, found that fewer than 10% of top-grossing films released between 2017-2019 from the UK, US and Australia featured a speaking Muslim character." Links for the Annenberg report are here. I haven't looked at this in detail yet, but imagine that it will be useful in teaching on media concerns.

Mental Health Tests Report

Guardian, Mental health tests in the presence of counter-terror units ‘unethical’, says charity

"Mental health assessments are being conducted in the presence of police in little-known hubs that embed nurses and psychologists with counter-terrorism units, raising “serious ethical concerns”, a medical charity has said."

Report link here: Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs

Mental Health Research

"Bangladeshi men have been hit hard by the pandemic – in terms of higher death rates compared to other communities, shut down industries and job losses. But with lockdown easing, many fear that the impact of the pandemic on their mental health may be overlooked."

'The forgotten women who helped to build British Islam'

Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor, The Conversation, The forgotten women who helped to build British Islam "I used archive material linked to the two earliest British mosques to examine the everyday lives of women in these historical communities. This research presents a coherent and compelling narrative of women’s lives and roles as contributors and leaders of their communities."

British Muslims & the Election

Musharraf Hussain, Time, British Muslims Can Swing the U.K. Election, But Only If They Get Out and Vote opinion/analysis

"There are 31 marginal seats where the Muslim electorate outnumbers the sitting member of parliament’s (MP’s) majority. In Conservative-held Hendon, for example, the ruling party’s majority is just 1,072. This is in a constituency with an estimated 8,395 eligible Muslim voters. On the other side of the political divide, Labour holds Glasgow North East by just 242 votes. If just a quarter of the 1010 eligible Muslim voters were to swing to the SNP, the Scottish Nationalists would have another seat in Westminster."

This is based on the research released by the Muslim Council of Britain, MCB finds Muslim voters could swing 31 marginal seats, in particular, this listing of constituencies [pdf].

This is a screenshot of the MCB's campaign to register voters:

Poll on 'values'

Metro, Nearly half of UK adults think Islam is ‘incompatible’ with British values "The poll, which questioned 2,077 people of different ages, genders and regions, showed how ‘misunderstood’ the religion is in the UK, said the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community." I haven't seen this poll yet, and question the value of the headline.

Inside the online world of Muslim millennials

Based on Hussein Kesvani's forthcoming book Follow Me Akhi, this is certainly worth a read [note: paywalled article]. It's a revealing and interesting article, with lots of insight and access. It also links with my own research interests (existing and forthcoming)

Hussein Kesvani, Times Magazine, Inside the online world of Muslim millennials, 18 May 2019

Britain used to ask Muslims to move here. What happened to us?

Diana Darke, Guardian, Opinion, Britain used to ask Muslims to move here. What happened to us? This article highlights a series of information films (archived by the BFI), including one made in Cardiff. Not sure about the 'us' in the title of this?