LONDON
\nBritish Muslims have been categorized as being one of the most discriminated communities across the UK, according to a new report on Islamophobia published on Monday.
\nThe analysis by the University of Birmingham and data analysis firm YouGov discovered that the British public are more likely to hold discriminatory and negative views on Islam than on any other religion and a significant minority of this population hold incorrect and conspiratorial views on British Muslim communities.
\nThe study revealed that the demographics of those most likely to hold such Islamophobic views and beliefs are among the elderly population, working-class, males, and those who voted to leave the EU as well as supporters of the Conservative Party under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
\n\u201cPrejudice towards Islam and Muslims stands out in the UK, not only because it is much more widespread than most forms of racism, but also because prejudice toward Islam is more common among those who are wealthier and well-educated,\u201d said Stephen H. Jones, the lead author of the study.
\n\u201cNo one is calling for laws regulating criticism of religion, but we have to recognize that the British public has been systematically miseducated about Islamic tradition and take steps to remedy this,\u201d Jones added.
\nAccording to the report, the non-Muslim British public is three times more likely to hold prejudiced views of Islam than they are of other faiths. Support for the prohibition of Muslim migration to the UK is 4-6% higher than it is for other religious and ethnic minority groups and British people are more confident in making incorrect judgments about Islam than other non-Christian faiths.
\nThe report further finds that over one in four people hold conspiratorial views on the so-called \u201cSharia no-go areas.\u201d Some 26.5% agree that there are certain areas of the UK that operate under Sharia law and that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering. 36.3% agree that Islam threatens the British way of life.
\nThe vast majority of them are Tory and Brexit supporters.
\nJust over a quarter of the British public harbor negative views towards Muslims with 9.9% feeling \u201cvery negative\u201d towards them. In comparison, only 8.5% of the public hold negative views for Jewish people, 6.4% for Black people, and 8.4% for other white people of different nationalities.
\nThe study, however, found that people from middle and upper-class occupational groups are also more likely to hold prejudiced views against Muslims and Islamic beliefs. People from higher social groups are 4.8% more likely to view Islam as \u201cliteralistic,\u201d without interpretation, than other lower social groups.
\nAs well as reporting on the scale of Islamophobia in the UK, the report also offered various recommendations to combat and offer solutions to anti-Muslim discrimination, including the public acknowledgment of Islamophobia by the government and equally higher public institutions.
\n\u201cCivil society organizations and equality bodies concerned with prejudice and discrimination should acknowledge that systemic miseducation about Islam is common in British society and forms an important element of Islamophobia.\u201d
\n\u201cGovernment and other public figures should publicly acknowledge and address the lack of public criticism that Islamophobic discourses and practices trigger, and how Islamophobia stands out compared with other forms of racism and prejudice.\u201d
\nThe publication of the report comes shortly after accusations were leveled against the Tory party after Muslim minister Nusrat Ghani was sacked due to her \u201cMuslimness\u201d making other ministers uncomfortable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON British Muslims have been categorized as being one of the most discriminated communities across the UK, according to a new report on Islamophobia published on Monday. The analysis by the University of Birmingham and data analysis firm YouGov discovered that the British public are more likely to hold discriminatory and negative views on Islam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-240730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n