May 1. Mubashir Jamil, a 21-year-old man from Luton, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to travel to Syria to engage in "violent jihad" with the Islamic State.
May 2. A senior British jihadi who boasted of recruiting hundreds of Britons for the Islamic State was killed in a drone strike in Syria. Raphael Hostey, also known as Abu Qaqa al-Britani, left Manchester to join the Islamic State in 2013. The 23-year-old graphic designer became a key recruiter of British fighters and jihadi brides for the group.
May 4. The "Department of Theology" of the Blackburn Muslim Association ruled that it is "not permissible" for a woman to travel more than 48 miles — deemed to be the equivalent of three days walk — without her husband or a close male relative. The group also ruled that men must grow beards and women must cover their faces. The rulings were accompanied by the catchphrase: "Allah knows best."
May 7. Labour Party politician Sadiq Khan was sworn in as mayor of London. He is the first Muslim to lead a major European capital. During the election campaign, Khan faced a stream of allegations about his past dealings with Muslim extremists and anti-Semites. British politician Paul Weston warned that Khan's rise is a harbinger of things to come:
"The previously unthinkable has become the present reality. A Muslim man with way too many extremist links to be entirely coincidental is now the Mayor of London. In a couple more decades Britain may well have its first Muslim Prime Minister. Reality cannot argue with demographics, so the realistic future for Britain is Islamic."
May 7. Mohammed Shaheen, a 43-year-old father of seven, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping underage schoolgirls. Shaheen, an immigrant from Pakistan, insisted he was a devout Muslim who had been framed by his victims.
May 8. Britain's biggest Muslim charity branded hundreds of buses around the country with an Arabic slogan proclaiming "glory to Allah." Islamic Relief said the initiative was an attempt to "break down barriers" during Ramadan and portray Islam in a positive light.
May 8. Six Algerian terror suspects with links to al-Qaeda were allowed to stay in Britain after winning a protracted legal battle. The government ruled that there was a "real risk" the men would be tortured by the Algerian security services if they were deported. This would have violated the Human Rights Act.
May 9. A Muslim man who was found guilty of threatening to behead a candidate of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) had his sentence overturned on appeal. Aftab Ahmed, 45, had been found guilty of making threats to kill David Robinson-Young, but a Newcastle Crown Court judge said he believed that Ahmed did not intend to act on his threat.
May 10. The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) apologized for a counter-terrorism exercise in which a mock suicide bomber shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the greatest"). Eight hundred volunteers took part in the drill to make it as realistic as possible. A local Muslim leader, Syed Azhar Shah, said it was "shocking to portray Muslims as terrorists" and accused the GMP of "institutional racism."
May 10. The trial began of three Muslims who plotted to behead British citizens after being inspired by an Islamic State order "to kill civilians everywhere in the West."
May 11. Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to Suliman Gani, a Muslim extremist, for saying he is a supporter of the Islamic State. Cameron said he was referring to reports that Gani supports "an" Islamic state rather than "the" Islamic State. The Muslim Council of Britain called for an "urgent review" of Islamophobia in the Conservative party.
May 15. The BBC's religious output is too Christian, according to Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC's head of religion and ethics. He argued that that Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths should get more airtime.
May 16. The government confirmed that Sharia-compliant student loans will be offered for the first time in Britain as part of an effort to boost the number of young Muslims applying to university. The new finance model complies with Sharia law, which forbids Muslims from taking out loans on which they would be charged interest.
May 17. One-third of Muslim adults in Britain do not feel "part of British culture," according to a new report on British multiculturalism. Nearly half (47%) of Muslims consider their Islamic faith to be the most important part of their identity.
May 17. Belmarsh, a maximum-security prison in London, has become "like a jihadi training camp," according to testimony from a former inmate. "The problem is that Belmarsh is also a holding prison and so young people who are brainwashed and indoctrinated then go out into the wider prison system and create wider Akhi [brotherhood] networks." Muslims comprise 30% of inmates at Belmarsh.
May 17. Brusthom Ziamani, a 20-year-old Muslim convert who was arrested in East London for plotting to behead a British soldier, had his sentence reduced. Judges reviewing his case said that "given his youth" his sentence was "too long."
May 18. Ofsted, the government agency responsible for regulating British schools, admitted that it failed properly to inspect the Zakaria Muslim Girls' High School in Batley because the inspector was "prohibited" from talking to pupils or staff. The school is run by the Deobandis, a conservative Muslim sect that is said to shun non-Muslims.
May 18. The Queen's Speech, setting out the government's program for the next session of parliament, unveiled a controversial new counter-extremism bill that included powers to gag individuals and ban organizations deemed as extremist. The bill did not, however, include a definition of extremism. Critics said the proposals risked creating "thought police."
May 18. Akmal Afzal, a 23-year-old Briton of Pakistani descent who was arrested at the 2012 London Olympics after giving police a false name, filed a lawsuit for discrimination. He claims he was arrested because he was an "Asian man with a beard."
May 22. The government was accused of burying a report on prison extremism. The report warned that staff have been reluctant to tackle Islamist behavior for fear of being labelled "racist."
May 23. El Shafee Elsheikh, 27, was identified as the fourth member of the Islamic State execution cell responsible for beheading 27 hostages. The four guards, led by "Jihadi John," were nicknamed the "Beatles" because of their English accents. Elsheikh, who was granted asylum in Britain when he was seven, left for Syria after being radicalized at a London mosque.
May 23. A British Muslim woman was jailed after she tried to take her children to Syria. Lorna Moore, 34, failed to tell police that her husband was a jihadist with the Islamic State. She was planning to take her three young children, one of them 11 months old, to the war zone.
May 23. A survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK found that 33% of British adults believe that Islam promotes violence in the UK. The study also found that 56% of Britons disagree with the view that Islam is compatible with British values.
May 24. A National Health Service (NHS) doctor left his wife and two children in Sheffield to join the Islamic State. Issam Abuanza, 37, a Palestinian doctor with British citizenship, was the first practicing NHS doctor known to have joined the Islamic State.
May 25. Police in West Yorkshire revealed that they were investigating 220 alleged cases of child sex grooming in Keighley and Bradford. The cases involve 261 suspects and 188 victims.
May 26. Home Secretary Theresa May established an independent review into the "misuse" of Sharia law in Britain. The review will not, however, examine whether Sharia law discriminates against women.
May 27. A British citizen who plotted to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow Airport was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Minh Quang Pham, 33, was sentenced in New York for travelling to Yemen to train with members of al-Qaeda. Pham, a Vietnamese born British convert to Islam, was extradited to the United States in February 2015.
May 29. Music festivals, sports venues and nightclubs were placed on "high alert" for potential jihadist attacks. Neil Basu of the Metropolitan Police warned: "These people are perfectly happy to target civilians with the maximum terror impact. Crowded places were always a concern for us, but now they are right at the top of the agenda."
May 31. The trial began of Somalia-born Muhiddin Mire, 30, who tried to decapitate a random stranger in the London Underground. "This is for my Syrian brothers," he yelled. "I am going to spill your blood." Police found images on Mire's cellphone of Islamic State hostages having their throats cut.
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