
Half of public think Islam not compatible with British values
The YouGov polling also found that four in 10 feel Muslim immigrants have a negative impact on the UK.
The survey of 2,130 adults in mid-July asked people if they felt different groups of immigrants by religion generally have a positive or negative impact on the UK.
While 41 per cent said Muslim immigrants have a negative impact, the proportions feeling this way were much lower for other groups.
Around 15 per cent felt this way about Hindu immigrants, 14 per cent about Sikh immigrants, 13 per cent about Jewish immigrants and 7 per cent about Christian immigrants.
Just under a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents felt Muslim immigrants had a positive impact on the UK, lower than for any of the other religions stated.
Earlier this week, Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, urged Labour colleagues to acknowledge people's 'real concerns', pointing out that immigration was one of a number of factors having a 'profound impact on society', as she updated Cabinet on her work on social cohesion.
Some 53 per cent of those polled said they believed Islam is not compatible with British values, while 25 per cent said it is and 22 per cent said they did not know.
Sabah Ahmedi, known as 'the young imam' online, said he believes fear among people 'stems from a lack of understanding of Islam '.
He said: 'These findings are deeply worrying, revealing high levels of anti-Muslim sentiment in this country. As a British Muslim, it is tragic to think that we are disliked or hated because of our religious beliefs. It is unfair and unjust considering that the vast majority of Muslim immigrants to the UK are contributing positively.'
He encouraged people to 'meet Muslims to see we are not a threat' and urged the media to 'play a role as well'.
The polling was commissioned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community ahead of a gathering for what it described as the UK's biggest Muslim convention – the Jalsa Salana – this weekend in Hampshire, expected to be attended by 40,000 followers of the faith.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is made up of people and their descendants who generally fled Pakistan in the 1980s in the face of religious persecution.
Members said they now often face the same discrimination in the UK – from some Muslims who do not agree with their version of the faith, and from other people who have subjected them to racist bullying because of their Pakistani ethnicity.
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