Britain faces growing number of radical Islamic protests against blasphemy

A report obtained by The Times claims the UK is facing a growing number of protests against blasphemy by Islamist groups. Threats of violence and intimidation against those accused of insulting Islam are becoming increasingly frequent.

Protests against apparent blasphemy have become more regular and radical, according to a study commissioned by the UK government’s Center for Combating Extremism.

The report, obtained by The Times, reveals links between leading activists in recent protests in Britain and an extremist Islamist party in Pakistan whose members have often demanded the beheading of blasphemers.

The Home Office’s independent adviser on extremism, Robin Simcox, commissioned the study in response to several serious incidents of blasphemy and the response to it by Islamist groups.

In 2021, a teacher in Batley, West Yorkshire, received death threats after showing students a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

A year later, there were protests in Birmingham over the screening of the film Lady in Heaven, which portrayed the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Last year, a copy of the Koran was damaged by blasphemers in West Yorkshire.

The report said each such incident was linked to “a new generation of British anti-blasphemy activists who are working to ensure that blasphemy becomes a key issue of concern to British Muslims.”

It comes after UK Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Michael Gove warned that pro-Palestinian protesters risked “empowering” extremist groups.

The Communities Secretary said demonstrators opposed to the Hamas-Israel war should have “no excuse for not knowing” the motives of some organizers.

Michael Gove is to develop a new official definition of extremism that will “help” protesters decide whether to attend pro-Palestinian events.

Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak denied the Tories had a problem with Islamophobia after former Conservative deputy chairman Lee Anderson was suspended for accusing London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists.

The report shows activists condemning the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, whose beliefs are seen as blasphemous and offensive to the Prophet Muhammad or the Koran.

Ahmadi Muslims are a religious minority in Pakistan who consider themselves Muslim but were declared “non-Muslim” in 1974. The British wing of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) – a political party previously banned due to violent demonstrations and its support for the execution of “blasphemers” – was described as “most worrying”. Pro-TLP speakers have spoken at mosques in Britain, and activists associated with the party have taken part in protests in Batley, Wakefield and Birmingham.

The report warns that the rhetoric “has the potential to radicalize audiences around the issue of blasphemy” which “could increase the likelihood of religious violence and terrorism in the UK.”

Reports say many are calling for tougher blasphemy laws in the UK and want to criminalize insults to Islam, which they say is fueling a wider war on the faith by “enemies of Islam in the West”.

The report adds: “Thus, this activism may indeed contribute to rising communal tensions and the spread of conspiratorial views of non-Muslim societies waging a deliberate and coordinated war against Islam.”