Two days before five men were attacked near a mosque in Edinburgh, the Muslim Council of Britain told 500 mosques across Britain to prepare for violent intrusions, arson and bomb threats. The timing is not a coincidence. It is the shape of a pattern that British Muslims have been documenting for years.
Five Men Attacked In Edinburgh
Police Scotland confirmed the attacks began at about 8:50pm in Sighthill, where two men were injured. Three more men were later attacked in the Telford Road and Leith Walk areas. The victims were aged 22, 22, 24, 27 and 39. Three were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The Scottish Association of Mosques confirmed two of the victims had been attacked in a park after leaving Broomhouse mosque in the west of the city. A 36-year-old Scottish man was arrested after police used a Taser. He was formally charged on June 21 in connection with several incidents including threats, robbery and vandalism. Counter-terrorism officers were brought into the investigation.
The Suspect’s Alleged Words
The attack is being investigated as a suspected anti-Muslim hate crime because of the words reportedly shouted during the arrest. Footage posted online appeared to show a bare-chested man moving through Edinburgh streets with a large weapon. Another video appeared to show the same man pinned down by police while shouting that he was “protecting the country” from Muslims and using explicit anti-Muslim language.
MEND urged police to “treat this as what the evidence indicates: Islamophobic, far-right terror.” PM Keir Starmer called the attack “absolutely appalling” and said the suspect appeared to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was horrified.
Muslims Say The Fear Is National
Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said Muslims across the UK “no longer feel safe in the only country they call home.” Speaking to The Scotsman, Yousaf said the attacks had not happened in a vacuum and accused far-right figures of helping put “a target on the backs of Muslims.” He directly named Rupert Lowe and Tommy Robinson, saying: “Over 4 million Muslims in the UK, and you have made every single one of us a target.”
Mosques Were Already Preparing For Worst-Case Attacks
On June 18, the Muslim Council of Britain published a national safety and security framework for its nearly 500 affiliated mosques. The guidance urged mosques to run lockdown drills, appoint dedicated security officers, improve CCTV, and prepare for scenarios including violent intrusions, arson and bomb threats. MCB Secretary-General Wajid Akhter warned that recent riots in Southampton and Belfast had exploited knife-crime tragedies, while parts of the political and media ecosystem amplified the hostility. British mosques were being told to prepare for worst-case attacks. Two days later, five men were attacked in Edinburgh.
The Data Shows A Wider Pattern
Metropolitan Police data published in early June showed Islamophobic hate crime offences rose 33% between April and May 2026, from 135 to 179 cases, the highest monthly figure since August 2024.
Home Office figures showed anti-Muslim hate crimes in England and Wales rising from 2,690 to 3,199 offences in the year to March 2025, a 19% increase. Muslims were targeted in 45% of all religious hate crimes.
Tell MAMA recorded 6,313 Islamophobic incidents in 2024, the highest number in its history and a 165% rise over just two years. For the first time since the organisation was established in 2012, more Muslim men than Muslim women were targeted in 2025.
The British Muslim Trust documented at least 27 verified attacks on mosques between July and October 2025 alone, including an attempted arson attack intended to endanger life, projectile attacks, and hate signage placed on mosque property.
Mosques, Imam Homes And Muslim Bodies Targeted
During Ramadan prayers in February 2026, two men entered Manchester Central Mosque carrying multiple weapons, including an axe, a hammer and a knife, with approximately 1,500 worshippers inside. Greater Manchester Police arrested one man and launched a counter-terrorism-supported manhunt for the second. In Bolton, CCTV captured a suspected firebomb attack on the family home of an imam. In Blackburn, a mosque issued a public statement following a suspected arson attack, urging the community to remain vigilant.
In March 2026, CCTV footage recorded the moment a car struck a Muslim woman in broad daylight in Abbey Wood, southeast London, before the driver sped away. The woman survived. An investigation was opened. No suspects have been arrested. British Islamic organisations described it as a deliberate Islamophobic attack, noting that “the Muslim woman has now become a visible target.”
Far-Right Rhetoric And Grooming-Gangs Politics
The Edinburgh attack also happened against the backdrop of intense far-right mobilisation and political rhetoric around grooming gangs, immigration and Muslim identity. Humza Yousaf directly linked that climate to the violence, saying Islamophobia had been “mainstreamed for years” and that the Edinburgh attacks were “frightening but, I am afraid, unsurprising.” The suspect’s alleged words during arrest, including claims about “protecting the country,” echoed language routinely used in far-right discourse. When an entire community is repeatedly framed as a threat to women, children and national safety, violence does not emerge from nowhere. It grows in a climate where Muslims are treated less like citizens and more like a problem to be contained.
By Verity Quill | verumnetwork.com
SOURCES
Al Jazeera | Al Jazeera — hijab car attack | Middle East Eye | Dawn | The Scotsman | Arab News | TRT World | New Arab | Religion Media Centre | MCB | ITV News Granada | 5Pillars | Independent Press — Blackburn | IUMS — hijab attack | Humza Yousaf X | GB News
