Muslim political group was inundated with racist abuse during election

A Muslim political group has described the scale of racist and Islamophobic abuse it received during the recent general election.

The Muslim Vote is reporting the offensive messages received to the police in the hope that the perpetrators will be held accountable.

Among the messages, seen by The Independent, are serious threats to safety such as the “burning down” of mosques and correspondence calling staff “vile terrorist scum”.

“Get out or die, your choice,” says another.

Speaking to The Independent, The Muslim Vote coordinator Abubakr Nanabawa, 24, said the small team within the organisation began receiving an influx of abusive emails around February, accusing them of trying to undermine democracy and being unappreciative of British values.

“Since then, it’s been a steady stream of violent and threatening messages,” he said which impacted the morale of his colleagues.

“Now, when you’re a Muslim in politics, you learn to move past or, as much as possible, ignore the abuse. If you start dwelling on these things, you won’t have much time to do anything productive during the day.

Nanabawa, who’s based in Gloucestershire, continued: “These threats can make you feel vulnerable. For a short period, we even had to turn off our X/Twitter replies; you worry what the consequences will be for other Muslims who want to be politically involved but will be frightened when they see the kind of language and demonisation faced by us.”

Gloucestershire Constabulary have been notified about this abuse.

Mr Nanabawa described the violent messages as “an assault on the entire Muslim community”.

“This is not the democracy we strive for,” he added.

Founded in December 2023, The Muslim Vote is a political organisation that seeks to foster engagement in politics among Muslim communities and support candidates who oppose the Conservative and Labour leadership stances on the Israel–Hamas conflict, among other policy positions.

It has seen a groundswell of support within a short space of time, with backing from 18 national Muslim organisations including Muslim Census, Muzz, the Islam Channel and Prevent Watch.

The Muslim Vote was formed in response to the drop in support for Labour, among Muslim communities over its handling of Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and a lack of confidence in the former Conservative government.

A survey of Muslim voters found that 86 per cent voted for Labour in the 2019 general election, however, following Labour’s initial support of recent Israeli military action in Gaza, a follow-up poll revealed support for the party fell among Muslims to just 43 per cent saying they would vote Labour in the next election.

Candidates endorsed by The Muslim Vote received 462,728 votes in the election and were elected across four constituencies as independent candidates, according to the group.

The abuse against the organisation comes as the independent MP for Leicester South, Shockat Adam, a Muslim, has reportedly received death threats and was consequently forced to miss a Commons debate due to safety concerns.

Mr Nanabawa, himself a former Labour activist, says the group is calling on political leaders to “condemn this hate unequivocally”, adding: “their silence is complicity”.

“The Labour Party needs to focus on trying to win back votes from these communities, rather than seeing them vilified,” he added.

The group is also urging the media to “report responsibly and avoid amplifying divisive rhetoric” which “has an impact” on Islamophobia within society.

This comes after a landmark study, published in 2020, revealed widescale negative media reporting about Islam and believers of the faith.

“Once every five years, we have the opportunity to make our voices heard in a general election,” Mr Nanabawa said.

“As a Muslim in Britain, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned in you don’t: you’re damned in you don’t participate in democracy then you’re not embracing British values and if you don’t: you’re sectarian and undermining Britain.”