April 3 is now "Love a Muslim Day," according to Twitter, a time for celebrating Muslim acquaintances and promoting tolerance.

The concept has been spreading across social media, with people recognizing their friends, voicing their support for the Muslim community, dispelling myths, and combating bigotry.

That last part has to do with the day's origins.

Last weekend, various people across the UK received a harrowing letter calling for April 3 to be known as "Punish a Muslim Day," according to the New York Times. 

The letter said that people could earn points for committing specific crimes and atrocities against Muslims. People would earn 25 points for pulling off a woman’s head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim, 1,000 for bombing a mosque, and so on and so forth.

“This has caused quite a lot of fear within the community,” Iman Atta, the director of Tell Mama, told the local news media. “They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors. We have told them to keep calm.”

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Law enforcement are currently investigating the case, according to the Times. 

In and of itself, the letter is a disturbing act of hatred, but it arrives against a backdrop of increasing Islamaphobia throughout the UK and much of the Western world. 

Hate crimes against mosques in the UK and Muslims praying in mosques more than doubled between 2016 and 2017. Hate crimes against Muslims in the US, meanwhile, have hit a record high, even surpassing the years after 2001 when Islamaphobia spiked.

Although these letters have caused panic, people are turning this bigotry on its head by calling for April 3 to, instead, be recognized as "Love A Muslim Day." 

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It's received an enormous outpouring of support and now the hashtag #LoveAMuslimDay is trending.

Here are some of the most inspiring tweets from "Love a Muslim Day."

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TopicsCurrent eventsAdvocacySocial Mediahate crimesIslamUnited KingdomMuslimsIslamaphobia

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People on Twitter Have Declared It #LoveAMuslimDay and It's the Best

By Joe McCarthy