This Ramadan, know this: I am me, a Muslim and a Briton. I am not a headline, a threat or a stereotype

People gather for Eid prayer as the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end in Bristol on 2 May 2022. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

As Ramadan begins, Muslims across Britain prepare for a month of fasting, reflection and charity. For most of us, it is a time of spiritual discipline and generosity. For too many of us, it is also a time when the drumbeat of anti-Muslim hatred grows louder.

I have never liked the word “Islamophobia”. It sounds abstract, almost clinical. What we are dealing with is not a vague fear. It is hostility. Suspicion. Discrimination. Abuse. So, I call it what it is, anti-Muslim hatred.