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Up to 100,000 Islamic converts living in UK!!!

Asalaamu Alaikum(peace to everyone),

Quote:
Up to 100,000 converts to Islam are living in the UK, with white women leading the growing number of people embracing the Muslim faith, according to a report published today.

The number of converts to Islam may have risen from around 60,000 in 2001 to up to 90,000 to 100,000, according to estimates in a report for the Faith Matters organisation.

A study by Kevin Brice, of Swansea University, on behalf of Faith Matters, found 5,200 people converted to Islam in the UK last year.

A survey of 122 converts last year showed 56% were white British, with women making up 62% of respondents. The average age at conversion was just over 27.

The majority reported difficulties after converting because of the negative attitude of their family, but over time this attitude became more "positive" according to the report.

The majority of the converts saw themselves as both British and Muslim and did not feel disillusioned with British society and culture.

But they also felt their own lives had been "lost" and were "lacking in purpose" before conversion, and feared that there was a "normalisation" of "immoral" behaviour amongst an increasingly less religious British public.

Only a very small minority saw celebrating birthdays, listening to music or reading fiction as prohibited by Islam, with fewer than 10% viewing attending a family Christmas dinner as forbidden.

A majority said that most or all of their close friends were Muslims but almost all felt that Muslims should not keep themselves separate from non-Muslims.

The vast majority of women had changed their appearance after conversion, with a significant majority adopting the hijab, or head scarf.

But the survey showed that the majority of converts disagreed with the niqab, or face veil, in spite of supporting the right of women to wear it.

"Converts do not represent a devious fifth column determined to undermine the Western way of life - this is a group of normal people united in their adherence to a religion which they, for the most part, see as perfectly compatible with Western life," the report said.

"Converts are generally at ease living in the UK and do not feel that British people are essentially hostile to Islam."

The findings have been released after Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former prime minister Tony Blair, attracted widespread publicity when she announced last year that she had converted to Islam.

Faith Matters director Fiyaz Mughal said: "Conversion to Islam has been stigmatised by the media and wrongly associated with extremist ideologies and discriminatory cultural practices.

"Converts have an important role to play in supporting community cohesion, and it is vital that mosques can support them to encourage greater understanding amongst non-Muslims."

Source - http://www.24dash.com/news/communiti...s-living-in-UK

Another article on the same subject (top viewed) - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...h-2175178.html

Oh yeah, just point out that I also read the name "Muhammad" was the most popular name in the UK/ROTW. I read it on turntoislam, though the person didn't link to the source (said it was from the London Newspaper). Here's the link if you want to read up on that story - http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74805

Very interesting :) It's baffling even to me, that despite how badly Islam gets attacked (I mean literally, one in every 3 newspapers I pick up something bad about Islam), it's still somehow growing this rapidly. Mashallah.

[Taubah 9:32]"They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will not agree except that He will perfect His light, even if the disbelievers get annoyed."

Though it's probably irrelevant, worth mentioning in an authentic hadith that the Prophet(pbuh) did say "upon the final hour" the Muslims will be "many in numbers".

Anyways, something that does interest me is the projection of this Islamic growth (especially in the west). It is widly believed that by 2050, Islam will be the "biggest religion" in the world. I was watching a very interesting debate yesterday between Muslims/Christians Apologetics, and the Christians pointed out that, within this century, some of the western countries will have a "Muslim population majority". They said that, the first is going to be France, then the likes of Great Britain and others will follow. Even countries like Denmark/Sweden which have a large Athiest population, Islam is spreading rapidly amongst them aswell. The worry of the Christian apologetics was "what if the majority vote for Shariah Law", and the debate was ****d on that (Is Islam or Christianity better for UK). If anyone wants a link to the debate, let me know.

Allah(swt) knows best!