Muslim reformist Maajid Nawaz, a former member of the Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir group and founder of the counter-extremism Quilliam think-tank has criticized the term "Islamophobia" on several occasions, stating in 2020 it conflates racism with blasphemy and "there's a huge difference in being critical of an idea and critical of a person because of their political or religious identity." Nawaz argues that "anti-Muslim bigotry" is a more accurate phrase to use instead of Islamophobia when addressing prejudice faced by people of Muslim origin.