'Every Muslim became a person of suspicion' after UK terror attacks, woman trolled for wearing a hijab says

Tribute: Members of the 'Women's March' rally on Westminster Bridge
EPA
Fiona Simpson30 December 2017

“Every Muslim became a person of suspicion” following terror attacks in London and Manchester, a woman targeted by trolls for wearing a hijab has said.

Female Muslims spoke out about against a sharp rise in Islamophobia following several deadly attacks in the UK this year.

They described how those who practice the religion were “just as worried” about attacks and said “suspicion of all Muslims” is causing a cultural divide on Britain’s streets.

Dr Fariha Khan, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim women's association in the UK was among those who stood on Westminster Bridge just days after Khalid Masood's terror attack in March, in which five people died.

The 40-year-old GP, from Surbiton, south-west London, accompanied dozens of others at the event, organised by the Women's March On London, to openly condemn the murderous rampage.

Tribute: Women activists wearing blue hold hands on Westminster Bridge in front of the Houses of Parliament to honour the victims of the March 22 attack
AFP/Getty Images

"People have to consider that fear of these attacks is as real for us as it is for them. We are also out there commuting to work or out with our families and children," she said.

"Being suspicious of ordinary Muslims, and the majority of Muslims are peaceful members of the society, will only create divisions among the society."

Westminster Bridge vigil - In pictures

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For hijab-wearing women the attitude has become more hostile, according to two who said they have heard comments in the street and have both had to report online trolls.

Mother-of-two Navida Sayed said: "I've definitely felt the coldness in the sense, you know, no-one smiles anymore."

The 49-year-old Hounslow resident, whose mother came to the UK from Pakistan in the 1960s, said she had never felt such Islamophobia.

"We were all born and brought up here so, apart from the odd racist comment, we've never ever experienced this," she said.

"It's bad. When these attacks happen we feel double the pain. I feel double the pain - one for the loss of any innocent lives and then, secondly, (that it is carried out) wrongly in our name."

She said the fear of attacks is the same for everyone, as is the onus on reporting suspicions.

"Being Muslim doesn't make us be off guard. I think it (security) is everyone's duty and responsibility," she said.

"So, even as a Muslim woman, if I saw something that wasn't right I would report it straight away."

Social media allows trolls to spread anti-Muslim hatred more easily, said Slough-born Sarah Ward Khan.

The mother-of-three, who grew up in Cornwall and now lives in New Malden, said: "It's become acceptable to say things which are in the main Islamophobic or coming from an Islamophobic viewpoint, and it's become acceptable to voice those opinions in public. That would be my perception."

Asked about attitudes in the wake of attacks this year, the 37-year-old trainee teacher, whose parents converted to Islam in the 1970s, said: "I think people became worried. Every Muslim became a person of suspicion - you know, 'Are they dangerous, they might look normal but could they do this? Is it something in their beliefs that's going to make them do this?"'

She described it as particularly "scary" that US President Donald Trump, who was widely condemned when he retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by a member of right-wing group Britain First, has often made sweeping statements about Islam.

"If he is the role model and he is leading the way and he is not understanding the nuance or he is not differentiating between the terrorists' ideology and Islamic teachings, then that's a scary thing and it becomes a scary world," she said.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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