Last month, M-Legal submitted evidence to the UK Government’s Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition — an independent panel tasked with recommending a national, non-statutory definition that can be used consistently across public policy and institutions.
Our submission was informed by three roundtable meetings with Muslim community organisations, legal practitioners, and civil society leaders, exploring how Islamophobia is experienced in education, policing, media, housing, and public life. These conversations ensured the proposed definition reflects lived realities and commands broad community confidence.
We also met members of the Working Group in person to present our legal analysis, community evidence, and recommendations.
A Comprehensive Definition
Drawing on the expertise of our Chair and informed by UN, EU, and OSCE best practice, our submission argues that Islamophobia must be recognised as religious bigotry, racial bigotry, or a complex combination of both — racialised religious bigotry.
It manifests across three interconnected domains:
Othering – dehumanising narratives, stereotyping, and exclusion from public life.
Discrimination – structural and institutional barriers in services, education, housing, and employment.
Hostility – hate speech, incitement, and violence.
While it can occur in purely religious or purely racial forms, it is most often an overlap of the two — a point that should be explicit in any agreed definition.
