CAIRO – Britain’s Elizabeth II has appointed a Muslim revert as the Queen’s High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, the Telegraph has revealed.
The eye-catching nomination, yet to be announced, went to Charles ‘Abd al-Mateen’ John Pelham, the 8th Earl of Yarborough.
Using the name Abd al-Mateen after reverting to Islam, the Earl of Yarborough will take the unpaid role next year.
The Eton College graduate is a master of the Brocklesby Hunt, and President of Brocklesby Park Cricket Club.
On the death of his father in 1991, he inherited the bulk of the £68 million estate, which includes Brocklesby Park in Lincolnshire, 27,500 acres of farmland, and one of Britain’s finest private art collections.
Britain is home to a Muslim community of nearly 2.7 million.
In 2011, think tank Demo found that Muslims in the United Kingdom are more patriotic than the rest of population.
Responding to the statement “I am proud to be a British citizen”, 83% of Muslims said they are proud of being British.
A 2004 study by Sunday Times found that 14,000 mostly-elite white Britons have reverted to Islam.
The authoritative study of the phenomenon found that some of the country’s top landowners, celebrities and the offspring of senior Establishment figures have embraced the Muslim faith.
Source: On Islam
