LONDON – Ringing alarm bells over the rise of anti-Muslim attacks, a British Muslim leader has warned that Islamophobia has reached an unprecedented level since the last Ramadan attack which targeted worshippers at Finsbury Park mosque.

Mohammed Kozbar, the chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, told BBC on Monday, July 17, the mosque experienced “a rise of hate letters, threatening letters… and something needs to be done about it”.

Official statistics confirmed this remark as the UK Metropolitan Police’s report showed a 13-percent rise in Islamophobic crimes in the past year.

Kozbar told BBC London the past month was the “most difficult and challenging month since we came here 12 years ago.”

“After all terror attacks… we’ve seen a rise of hate letters, threatening letters. They are very nasty letters and we reported them to the police.

“It is worrying for us and for the community and something needs to be done about it,” he added.

A Muslim man was killed and ten others were injured after a van hit a group of worshipers near a north London mosque in a terrorist attack targeting the British Muslim community during last Ramadan.

The attack, described as terrorist, was condemned by PM Theresa May, who said the “hatred and evil” seen in the attack would never succeed.

Fearing the Future

Kozbar noted that some letters suggested last month’s attack was “just the beginning” and warned of a “river of blood”. Other letters threatened to bomb the local Muslim community.

Local resident Merium Bhuiyan referred also to the fact that Muslim women are now frightened to wear hijab, giving an indication of a heightened sense of insecurity.

“I have many Muslim women friends and they’re afraid to wear their headscarves. Some have even taken them off. I have women friends who are fully covered and they really feel frightened at the moment. It’s definitely a scary time,” she told the BBC.

Kozbar said he would like to see tougher penalties for the perpetrators of hate crimes and more vigorous investigations by the police.

On his behalf, Ch Supt Dave Stringer, head of community engagement for the Metropolitan Police, said “We allocate Islamophobic cases to experienced detectives and they do whatever they can in terms of their investigative abilities to support the victims, to chase the suspect and to bring that suspect to justice.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All forms of hate crime are unacceptable and those who commit these awful crimes should be prosecuted. “We have some of the strongest laws in the world to tackle hate crime.”