Global Muslim Groups Sound Alarm on Rising Islamophobic Violence
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Friday joined an international coalition of Muslim advocacy organizations to issue a joint statement warning of the consequences of normalizing anti-Muslim hatred internationally and praising the three brave men who gave their lives defending hundreds of schoolchildren.
In the statement, the global Muslim groups write in part:
“Details emerging about the attack illustrate the transnational nature of the attackers’ motivations to terrorize the San Diego Muslim community. According to reports, the attackers drew inspiration from previous mosque and anti-Muslim attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand; Quebec City, Canada; and London, Canada, among other sites of violence. This underscores the urgent need to recognize that Islamophobia is articulated and perpetuated through global systems of dehumanization that promote racism, white supremacy and violence.”
In a statement, CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said:
“This week, anti-Muslim extremists crossed the threshold from hate speech to hate violence. This did not occur in isolation.
“Internationally, we have witnessed horrific attacks on Islamic places of worship. Domestically, public officials have called for the destruction of mainstream Muslims, mass deportations based solely on faith, formed a congressional caucus whose express purpose is to effectively ban the world’s second largest religion from the United States, and engaged in speech that often meets criteria for inspiring violence. This must end.
“CAIR hears the silence of official condemnation of Islamophobia. We plan to continue our work of ensuring our government honors its duty to protect all religions in our nation and the Bill of Rights no matter what bigotry is directed at us.”
The groups endorsing the global statement are:
Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie en Europe
CAGE International
Islamophobia Register, Australia
Muslim Votes Matter, Australia
Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN)
Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand
Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand
National Council of Canadian Muslims
Justice For All Canada
Islamophobia Research Hub, York University, Canada
Canadian Council of Muslim Women
Cordoba Foundation, UK
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Vote, UK
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), USA
US CONTEXT
At least three domestic reports published in 2026 collectively indicate that Islamophobia remains at all-time highs, public official’s social media posting targeting Muslims frequently meets criteria for inspiring violence, and public tolerance for anti-Muslim polices jumped in recent years. Reporting from 2025 paints a picture that the Department of Homeland Security apparently locks Muslims out of key security grant program.
CAIR received 8,683 complaints nationwide in 2025, the highest number of single-year complaints CAIR has recorded since our first civil rights report covering 1996 was published.
Read More:
The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) reports that between February 2025 and March 2026 forty-six Republican elected officials published 1,111 posts targeting Muslim Americans. CSOH also noted that “In total, 89 Republican elected officials participated in at least one track of the [anti-Muslim] campaign: social media, legislation, or [Sharia Free America] caucus membership.
The Center notes, “Many posts satisfy all five criteria for speech likely to inspire violence.”
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found that “greater tolerance for anti-Muslim policies such as mosque surveillance, racial profiling, and greater scrutiny of Muslims at airports, the so-called Muslim ban, and even taking away voting rights from Americans who are Muslims” jumped between 2023 and 2025. ISPU also reports that in 2025 “Muslims are the most likely religious group to report having experienced religious discrimination.”
Anti-Muslim extremism adds another hurdle by apparently denying Muslims access to a key government security program. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) is a competitive grant program overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It provides funds to increase security at nonprofit organizations, often places of worship, which face high risk of extremist attacks.
In 2025, DHS added First Amendment viewpoint restricting terms and conditions requiring compliance with ICE and prohibiting legally protected boycotts that caused at least 79 organizations and 130 communal leaders to opt-out. According to CNN reporting, now current FEMA head Karen Evans sought a blanket ban on Muslim organizations getting grants. According to CNN and Fox News reporting, a report authored by the anti-Muslim extremist group Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum played a role in restricting grants to Muslim organizations.
Source: Cair.com
