The British Women Converting to Islam
The challenges faced by British women who have converted to Islam have been investigated in a study by the University of Cambridge Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) and the New Muslims Project. Thousands of British women have converted to Islam but nobody has ever studied the difficulties they face in being accepted, says Shahla Suleiman, the project manager for the study for which 47 converts were interviewed. “Considering the stereotypical and largely negative picture Islam has in the media and society at large …we wanted to understand the seemingly paradoxical issue of why highly educated and professionally successful Western women convert to Islam.” The report says more support is needed for converts, but also recognises the potential converts...
Janet Jackson converted to Islam?
Michael Jackson’s singer sister Janet Jackson had a widely celebrated lavish wedding to billionaire Wissam Al Mana just a few months ago, and since that time Janet hasn’t done any acting or released any music. It has since been reported that Janet has moved to the Middle East and converted to Islam and changed her name to Jannat. Surprisingly, she also has disavowed music and left the industry entirely. Janet says that part of the reason she wants to leave music is so that she and her husband can live a private life away from the media. Al Mana made his fortune through the Al Mana Retail group, which is owned and controlled by his family. This is...
Why Do Westerners Convert to Islam?
This is a transcript of part of an interview conducted by Dr. Tariq Ramadan with sister Batool al-Toma, director of the New Muslims project at the Islamic Foundation, UK, in the weekly TV program ‘Islam and Life.’ In the interview, sister Batool, herself a convert to Islam, explains the different reasons that encourage westerners to decide to become Muslim. Tariq Ramadan: This week we are going to discuss the challenges facing people who convert to Islam. What do Westerners see in Islam that makes them decide to become Muslims? Did the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or Western support for Israel encourage westerners to convert? In 2009, approximately 40,000 Brits, 70,000 French nationals and 100,000 Americans became Muslims. What...
Former Guantanamo Guard: American Muslims Best Example of Islam...
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – A former Guantanamo guard who embraced Islam during his service in the notorious detention center has praised American Muslims as representing the best example of true Islam. “You can’t be afraid to be a Muslim in public,” Terry Holdbrooks Jr., 29, was quoted as saying by All Alabama website. He urged the Muslim community in the US to remain united and open to their neighbors. “Tell your neighbors you’re Muslim. Invite them into your home. Invite them to visit the masjid to see our secret bomb factories.” The United States is home to a Muslim minority of between six to eight million. A recent survey by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said that...
Census Figures Show Christianity in Sharp Decline While Belief in Islam Dramatically Increases...
A fresh analysis of the 2011 census has shown that Christian faith in the UK is declining rapidly amongst the British-born population, whilst belief in Islam has dramatically increased. A report published by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the percentage of people following a Christian faith dropped from 71.7 per cent in 2001 to 59.3 per cent in 2011. More than one in 10 under 25s in the UK now describe themselves as Muslim. Figures for Christianity were boosted however by the 1.2 million foreign-born Christians residing in the UK, such as Polish Catholics and evangelicals from countries such as Nigeria. Meanwhile, the percentage of the people who have no religion rose from 14.8 per cent...
Female Converts to Islam Considered in New Study...
Yasir Suleiman – founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge – explained that researchers had set out to explore “the paradox of women converting to Islam despite the negative image that it is all about the oppression of women”. They had therefore joined forces with the New Muslims Project to bring together around 50 converts for frank in-depth discussions over several days. The results have now been published as Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain: Female Perspectives. Chairing a launch event for the project at Soas, University of London, earlier this month, journalist Kristiane Backer estimated that 5,000 British people convert to Islam each year, three-quarters of them...
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