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An article published in The Times<\/em> about the rise of Islam in the UK, and why most of those who convert are women.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Spread of a World Creed<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Lucy Berrington finds the Muslim Faith is winning Western admirers despite hostile media coverage.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Unprecedented numbers of British people, nearly all of them women, are converting to Islam at a time of deep divisions within the Anglican and Catholic churches.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The rate of conversions has prompted predictions that Islam will rapidly become an important religious force in this country. \u201cWithin the next 20 years the number of British converts will equal or overtake the immigrant Muslim community that brought the faith here\u201d, says Rose Kendrick, a religious education teacher at a Hull comprehensive and the author of a textbook guide to the Koran. She says: \u201cIslam is as much a world faith as is Roman Catholicism. No one nationality claims it as its own\u201d. Islam is also spreading fast on the continent and in America.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The surge in conversions to Islam has taken place despite the negative image of the faith in the Western press. Indeed, the pace of conversions has accelerated since publicity over the Salman Rushdie affair, the Gulf War and the plight of the Muslims in Bosnia. It is even more ironic that most British converts should be women, given the widespread view in the west that Islam treats women poorly. In the United States, women converts outnumber men by four to one, and in Britain make up the bulk of the estimated 10, 000 to 20, 000 converts, forming part of a Muslim community of 1 to 1.5 million. Many of Britains \u201cNew Muslims\u201d are from middle-class backgrounds. They include Matthew Wilkinson, a former head boy of Eton who went on to Cambridge, and a son and daughter of Lord Justice Scott, the judge heading the arms-to-Iraq enquiry.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A small scale survey by the Islamic Foundation in Leicester suggests that most converts are aged 30 to 50. Younger Muslims point to many conversions among students and highlight the intellectual thrust of Islam. \u201cMuhammad\u201d said, \u201cThe light of Islam will rise in the West\u201d<\/span>[1] and I think that is what is happening in our day\u201d says Aliya Haeri, an American-born psychologist who converted 15 years ago. She is a consultant to the Zahra Trust, a charity publishing spiritual literature and is one of Britain\u2019s prominent Islamic speakers. She adds: \u201cWestern converts are coming to Islam with fresh eyes, without all the habits of the East, avoiding much of what is culturally wrong. The purest tradition is finding itself strongest in the West.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Some say the conversions are prompted by the rise of comparative religious education. The British media, offering what Muslims describe as a relentless bad press on all things Islamic, is also said to have helped. Westerners despairing of their own society – rising in crime, family breakdown, drugs and alcoholism – have come to admire the discipline and security of Islam. Many converts are former Christians disillusioned by the uncertainty of the church and unhappy with the concept of the Trinity and deification of Jesus.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Quest of the Convert – Why Change?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Other converts describe a search for a religious identity. Many had previously been practising Christians but found intellectual satisfaction in Islam. \u201cI was a theology student and it was the academic argument that led to my conversion.\u201d Rose Kendrick, a religious education teacher and author, said she objected to the concept of the original sin: \u201cUnder Islam, the sins of the fathers aren\u2019t visited on the sons. The idea that God is not always forgiving is blasphemous to Muslims.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Maimuna, 39, was raised as a High Anglican and confirmed at 15 at the peak of her religious devotion. \u201cI was entranced by the ritual of the High Church and thought about taking the veil.\u201d Her crisis came when a prayer was not answered. She slammed the door on visiting vicars but travelled to convents for discussions with nuns. \u201cMy belief came back stronger, but not for the Church, the institution or the dogma.\u201d She researched every Christian denomination, plus Judaism, Buddhism and Krishna Consciousness, before turning to Islam.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Many converts from Christianity reject the ecclesiastical heirarchy emphasising Muslims\u2019 direct relationship with God. They sense a lack of leadership in the Church of England and are suspicious of its apparent flexibility. \u201cMuslims don\u2019t keep shifting their goal-posts ,\u201d says Huda Khattab, 28, author of The Muslim Woman\u2019s Handbook, published this year by Ta-Ha. She converted ten years ago while studying Arabic at university. \u201cChristianity changes, like the way some have said pre-marital sex is okay if its with the person you\u2019re going to marry. It seems so wishy-washy. Islam was constant about sex, about praying five times a day. The prayer makes you conscious of God all the time. You\u2019re continually touching base.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ——————————————-<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Footnotes:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [1] There is no such statement by Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him \u2013 IslamReligion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ——————————————-<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sources:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Religion of Islam.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 An article published in The Times about the rise of Islam in the UK, and why most of those who convert are women. The Spread… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":51,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-women-convert-to-islam"],"yoast_head":"\n
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