Prayer in the shadow of Everyday hostility: British mosques as the public identity of Muslims

Existing research on attacks on mosques and the broader implications of conflict between majority populations and Muslim minority groups is still nascent. This paper explores how the visibility and functionality of mosques, central to the public identity of the Muslim religious minority in the UK, may affect the severity of Islamophobic attacks and behaviours. This paper makes a significant contribution to the literature in several ways and it moves beyond the simple distinction between new and old mosques, to establish a more nuanced typology of mosques in the UK. The field research, based on interviews with staff at 43 mosques across the UK, illuminates how clouds of hostility and tension continue to loom over local Muslim communities.