The Construction of British Muslims as a “Suspect Community” and Their Identity Development in the Post-9/11 and 7/7 Era

Frihi, Asma; Guessar, Souad

افاق للعلوم
Volume 8, Numéro 2, Pages 297-312
2023-03-10

The Construction Of British Muslims As A “suspect Community” And Their Identity Development In The Post-9/11 And 7/7 Era

Authors : Frihi Asma . Guessar Souad .

Abstract

The British Muslim minority group has lived a hard experience since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and July 7, 2005. The association of British Muslims with terrorism was the main reason behind the deterioration of their situation. The anti-terrorism legislation, political rhetoric and media led to the construction of British Muslims as a suspect community, leading increased discrimination and hate crimes against them. This construction of Muslims as a suspect community had an immense impact on their identity. This paper investigates the implications of the construction of Muslims as a 'suspect community' on their identity construction post-9/11. The representation of Muslims as terrorists led to reactive identity formation. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.