An exploration of Islamophobia at Warwick

Student associations and members of the Muslim community at the University of Warwick give an insight into Islamophobia and its rising threat due to conflicts in the Middle East.

Following the escalation of violence in the Middle East, after Israeli-Palestine tensions reached a boiling point on October 7, Gaza has been witness to 6,000 Palestinian deaths since this outbreak of violence. Islamophobia, commonly defined as the dislike of, or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, is particularly intensified after international acts of terrorism or religion-related conflict.

The history of the occupation of Palestine and the conflict with the State of Israel is rooted in the 1970s Arab world, which was a decade of long-term change in the Middle East. The 70s saw the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the independence of previous colonies, military coups, and the oil transformation in the Gulf economies. Mohamed Omar’s two-part documentary, The Arab World in the 1970s from Al Jazeera explores the details of what it calls “a decade of war and peace, of discontent, and of profound change.” A decade which has turned into three-quarters of a century, with no resolution in sight, simply the cataclysmic cleansing of historical Palestine. 

Before any further investigation, the most important question to address is: What is Islam? A female undergraduate studying at Warwick defined her faith in conversation with The Boar: “[Islam is] peace and mercy. It’s a beautiful religion that constantly reminds us to treat people nicely and be thankful. I think if you want to learn more about Islam, all you have to do is look to the unwavering faith of the Palestinian people. In their bleakest times, where we in our safe abodes wouldn’t even be able to fathom the atrocities, their remembrance of, and trust in God is something that shines through. This mentality is a testament to what it is to be unshakeably Muslim.”

Prior to the events of October 7, statistics from the Home Office showed that Islamophobia in the UK was already on the rise. The report showed that as of March 2023, Muslims were the most targeted faith group across England and Wales, being subject to 39% of all religious hate crime offences. 

Within academic institutions, however, Muslim students have shared their sentiments regarding a lack of security, and fears of hate crime at present. Ziyad Chentouf, a third-year Politics and International Studies student, stressed to The Boar: “Muslim female students are more susceptible to attacks, due to their religious dressing making them more visible to attack.”

Sadaqat was harshly told: “We don’t give work to Muslim women!” This is despite the fact that one can find the ‘Strength of the Hijab’ statue just around the corner

In her recent article, ‘From India to UK, Islamophobia is omnipresent’, international student Sumna Sadaqat confirmed that she faced this kind of Islamophobia when she arrived at the University of Birmingham. Taken aback by the seemingly embracing society around her, due to the numerous mosques, allocated spaces for prayers in the universities and the general tolerance to faith and gender, she was shocked to be confronted with Islamophobia when she went to apply for work. Sadaqat was harshly told: “We don’t give work to Muslim women!” This is despite the fact that one can find the ‘Strength of the Hijab’ statue just around the corner in the Smethwick area of the West Midlands.

Following calls that universities must act swiftly on antisemitism, as well as Islamophobia, Warwick Islamic Society told The Boar in a statement: “When compared to the University’s response to Ukraine’s illegal invasion, it’s implicitly racist: white children suffering is given greater value than the suffering of Muslim and Christian Arab children in Palestine. It isn’t a religious issue per se, it’s justice in response to an illegal occupation.”

Despite openly providing a statement of intolerance to any form of hate crime post-conflict, the University of Warwick has not created any forum for discussion on the issue. In discussion with the paper, Ziyad went on to argue that “the University should open up discussions in order for students to come to some understanding or middle ground about this conflict.”

He added: “Ultimately, staying silent on this issue will lead to increased tension from both sides. The best way to debunk these stereotypes and hate is to learn and discuss. Present the facts as we do when writing our university essays, weigh up the argument and let the people leave with the information they have been exposed to.”

Warwick Islamic Society also stated: “More education and open dialogue on campus to commend Islamophobia Awareness Month is needed.”

Hamza Rehman, 2022-2023 Vice President Postgraduate Officer at the University of Warwick, launched the ‘Stand Up Against Islamophobia’ campaign in November 2022. The campaign aimed to highlight different ways Islamophobia manifests and worked to showcase the creative and imaginative work of Muslim students at Warwick and beyond. The campaign, funded by alumni and donors through the Warwick Innovation Fund, was back for 2023, with a social on 24th November to mark Islamophobia Awareness Month.

Hamza spoke about passive Islamophobia when he launched the movement, stating: “The lack of facilities to pray has prevented students from coming in due to lack of capacity and rooms to hold enough students; especially for Friday/Jummah prayers.

“This is a form of Islamophobia as this is preventing Muslim students from expressing their faith, which means not supporting them, so more rooms and more spaces need to be available.”

“This is a form of Islamophobia as this is preventing Muslim students from expressing their faith, which means not supporting them, so more rooms and more spaces need to be available.”

The Prevent duty, referred to in the education minister’s letter, demands all educational institutions to “help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.” An NUS survey taken in 2018, however, found that a third of Muslim students felt negatively impacted by Prevent, from fear of engaging in university culture’s political debate to events instigated by Muslim students being prohibited or recreated.

The Prevent policy has affected students’ freedom of speech and voicing opinions on issues like colonialism and racism due to this policy

Hamza stated that: “The Prevent policy has affected students’ freedom of speech and voicing opinions on issues like colonialism and racism due to this policy, i.e. the idea of surveilling prayer rooms and the type of library search Muslim students may conduct gets flagged up.”

A Muslim female student studying at Warwick stressed a similar issue: “Something extremely concerning that has arisen throughout the Israel-Palestine conflict has been conflating anything pro-Palestinian with terrorism. With the majority of the Muslim community being on this side, it has cultivated this incessant need to police everything that is being said under the guise of potential terrorist sympathy.”

She further stressed: “It has definitely made us uncomfortable, to the point where we sometimes feel as though we should just keep our mouths shut before we get branded a terrorist, something only Muslims are ever referred to as. Just as we don’t associate all Jewish people with acts of Israel, we expect the same level of common sense to be applied towards us, to be able to speak our respectful opinions without constant fear.”

Humanity is a weapon against hate and division. Even in open-minded spaces, like the University of Warwick, there is still space for aggression and prejudice – Let the Warwick student body be a vigilant and proactive one, that is critical about our actions and words and above all, respectful and kind to all religions.