ICSFP
Drawing from the first study of it’s kind, London’s Sunday Times reported some of the country’s top landowners, celebrities and political offspring have embraced the Muslim faith .
The study, undertaken by Yahya (formerly Jonathan) Birt, son of Lord Birt, former director-general of the BBC, reveals the first reliable data on of the movement of Christians into Islam. Using the latest census figures of Britain he concludes there are 14,200 native Britain converts. Yet Birt holds little hope that a wave of conversions will take hold of Britain anytime soon. Holding a whose doctorate at Oxford University on young British Muslims he said to the Times, “The image of Islam projected by political Islamic movements is not very attractive.”
Commenting on his own acceptance of Islam he said he had no coherent reasons for reverting, but “in the longer term I think it was the overall profundity, balance and coherence and spirituality of the Muslim way of life which convinced me,” he said.
Following the report of the study came the report of Emma Clark, the great-granddaughter of a British prime minister having embraced Islam. She was reported to say, “We’re all the rage, I hope it’s not a passing fashion.”
As if to acknowledge and show respect for such shows of faith the Queen approved arrangements that will permit Muslim staff at Buckingham Palace to attend Friday prayers at a mosque.
However some British Muslims seem to wish to conceal their Islam from the public. A prominent 40 year old Earl declined to discuss anything about his faith. Yet others come forth proudly and their brothers and sisters in faith uphold their public figureship in the hope that they will be role models for others.
The Times reported that the Islamic school founded by Yusuf Islam, formerly the singer Cat Stevens, has had British Muslim Premiership football players such as Nicolas Anelka, the Manchester City striker, and Omer “Freddie” Kanoute, of Tottenham Hotspur, visit the school.
The trend is being encouraged by Muslim leaders who are convinced that the conversion of prominent society figures will help protect a community stigmatized by “terrorism and fundamentalism“. “The community has been unfairly targeted and these developments encourage it in a time of difficulty,” said Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council.
There is much in Islam that resonates with the British soul. As Abdal-Hakim Murad, a British revert to Islam wrote, “Islam, once we have become familiar with it, and settled into it comfortably, is the most suitable faith for the British. Its values are our values. Its moderate, undemonstrative style of piety, still waters running deep; its insistence on modesty and a certain reserve, and its insistence on common sense and on pragmatism, combine to furnish the most natural and easy religious option for our people.”
References:
Thousands Of British Elite Embrace Islam:” Study by Islam Online
“British and Muslim?” By Abdal-Hakim Murad
