A university should train students in Islamic practices, provide gender segregated prayer spaces with washing facilities, and observe ‘Islamophobia Awareness Month’ every year, a new report has said.
The report, which analyses “lived experiences” of Muslim students, researchers and staff at Loughborough University, also suggested expressing surprise at the number of times Muslim pray and asking about the hijab could be forms of “Islamophobic microaggressions”.
The report was funded by the Aziz Foundation, as part of its “Muslim friendly universities audit project“. The Aziz Foundation is one of the founders of the British Muslim Trust, which the Government awarded a £2.6 million contract in July to “monitor and tackle anti-Muslim hatred”.
The Aziz Foundation also provides administrative and financial support to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, which authored an ‘Islamophobia’ definition that has been widely criticised for conflating and race with religion and threatening free speech around Islam.
Loughborough University has adopted the APPG’s ‘Islamophobia’ definition.
Student: “they are ignoring the fact that I’m Muslim”
The research, based on 48 responses from Muslim students and eight focus groups with Muslim students, researchers and staff at Loughborough University, found there were “few concerns about explicit hostility or hatred towards Muslims” on campus.
But it added participants reported “lived experiences” of “non-recognition”, “microaggressions” and “Islamophobia”.
One example it gave of a “microaggression” was a non-Muslim staff member who laughed and said “good luck with that” when a Muslim researcher told her she prays five times a day.
Other participants shared “experiences of microggressions” related to “being visibly or non-visibly Muslim”. These included being asked “why one is either wearing or not wearing a headscarf” or “whether the headscarf is mandatory not in Islam”.
Conversely, in an example of “non-overt forms of discrimination” and “non-recognition”, a student said: “When people don’t acknowledge the fact that I’m Muslim, like when people don’t ask me questions about Islam then it feels strange to me.
“Because it feels like they are ignoring the fact that I’m Muslim”.
A staff member complained there is “a lot of indifference to the experience of Muslims”, while a researcher said that although people on campus are “very tolerant to Muslims”, the tolerance “feels sometimes almost forced, like they are trying very hard”.
The report said describing such incidents as “small things” rather than “expressions of Islamophobia” suggested “Islamophobic incidents might be normalised” in British universities.
It said there was a “perceived notion” among participants of “feeling tolerated rather than proactively embraced” and “passive acceptance, rather than active inclusion”.
In its recommendations, the report said the university should provide “training on Islam and religious practices among Muslims as part of formal induction processes and events” for students, researchers and staff to “increase awareness of the needs of Muslim members”.
It added that leaders and managers at the university should have “focused training” about “Islamic norms and Muslim practices” as well as “Islamophobia”.
“Islamophobic” university communications
The report said university communications are viewed as “non-inclusive of Islam and Muslims”, with some staff and researchers deeming university communication about the Israel-Gaza conflict “Islamophobic”. A staff member said a newsletter sent out shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th was “specifically going out in support of Jewish and Israeli staff”, which left “a lot” of Muslims “quite shocked”.
The report said the university “did not mention the targeting of Muslims” during the summer riots in 2024 in its email to staff and students, which was also “perceived as an example of Islamophobia”.
A researcher said she hadn’t attended “a single event in which they promoted Islam and talk about the achievements of Muslims”, while a student complained there were “no other Muslim gatherings” aside from those held by the university’s Islamic Society.
In its recommendations, the report said the university should “annually communicate and observe Islamophobia Awareness Month”, in addition to ensuring “timely and repeat communication to new and existing students” about the university’s Islamic Society.
It also said academic staff should be encouraged to “include knowledge about Islam and Muslims in relevant curricula and teaching activities”.
“Gendered” Islamic practices
The report recommended the university should increase “awareness of gendered aspects of Islam and Muslim practices”, including the “availability of gender segregated prayer rooms on campus” and “modesty practices which discourage handshakes as a greeting form between women and men”.
The report said some Muslim women felt “uncomfortable” and “othered” in having to explain why they will not shake hands with men, with one participant saying “a lot of times” she “ends up ‘giving in'” and shaking hands because of the “lack of sensitivity around different cultures”.
Some participants said sportswear requirements “might produce barriers for Muslim women’s participation”. The report recommended the university make available “sport uniforms that are in line with Islamic notions of modesty”.
While the report praised the university for organising an event on “How to be an ally…for people who wear the hijab” for World Hijab Day, some research participants said wearing the hijab made them feeling “overly visible” and “influenced how others perceived and interacted with them”.
Dry halls and prayer rooms
The report recommended the university consider “the introduction of dry halls” for students, after the survey suggested “strong support for alcohol-free spaces and halls”.
The report said Muslims face “emotional labour” in deciding whether to take part in social events where alcohol is served. It also said a “major concern” among participants was to “consume any halal food in a place which also cooks non halal food in the same kitchen”.
On accommodating Islamic prayers, the report said Muslim staff feel “their basic needs are being met” regarding access to prayer rooms and time off for Eid celebrations.
However, the report recommended the university provide “additional spaces” and consider “the needs of Muslims in the design of new buildings”. It said the university should improve facilities for “ritual washing”, including bidets “for washing of feet”.
Participants also said “more awareness is needed about Islam generally and the need for Muslim members of the university community to take a break to pray”.
Some students said the university is “White majority” and suggested the teaching curricula are “Western” or “Anglo-centric”.
Although some staff felt they must “avoid talking about religion on campus”, none of the survey respondents had “observed or experienced any incidents where freedom of speech was restricted or challenged at Loughborough”.
NSS: Perceived lack of deference to religion should not be conflated with anti-
Muslim hate
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: “This report appears determined to find ‘Islamophobia’ where there is none.
“Although it acknowledges there are few concerns about hostility or hatred towards Muslims at Loughborough University, it suggests innocuous conversations and university communications are ‘Islamophobic’ or ‘microaggressions’.
“Its recommendations for institutional accommodations around prayers, gendered practices and alcohol-free halls and could also prove burdensome for universities and divisive for staff and students.
“It’s particularly concerning that this report was funded by the Aziz Foundation, which is now partnered with the Government to monitor and tackle anti-Muslim bigotry via the British Muslim Trust.
“We hope its work does not confuse a perceived lack of deference to religion with genuine anti-Muslim hate.”