yallknowdatg
02-29-2004, 08:29 PM
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem
In the Name of Almighty God, the
Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Islam Attracts Top Britons in a Growing Trend
Arab News - Staff Writer
JEDDAH, 23 February 2004 - Over 14,000 Britons
have embraced Islam,
according to the UK's Sunday Times.
Citing the first
authoritative study of the phenomenon, the paper said
that they had done so because of
disillusionment with Western values.
Some of Britain's top landowners, celebrities and
the offspring of senior
Establishment figures have embraced Islam.
The trend is
being encouraged by Muslim leaders who are convinced that the
conversion of prominent
figures will help protect a community stigmatized
by terrorism and
fundamentalism.
Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council, said:
"The
community has been unfairly targeted and these developments encourage it
in a
time of difficulty."
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain has co-opted Joe
Ahmed-Dobson,
son of Frank Dobson, the former Labour health secretary, to chair
its
regeneration committee.
The study by Yahya (formerly Jonathan) Birt, son of Lord
Birt, former
director-general of the BBC, provides the first reliable data on the
sensitive
subject of the movement of Christians into Islam. He uses a
breakdown of the latest
census figures to conclude that there are now
14,200 white converts in
Britain.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his faith, Birt, whose
doctorate at
Oxford University is on young British Muslims, argued that an
inspirational figure, similar to
the American convert Malcolm X for
Afro-Caribbeans, would first have to emerge if the next
stage, a mass
conversion among white Britons, were to happen.
"You need great
transitional figures to translate something alien (like
Islam) into the vernacular," he said.
"The image of Islam projected by
political Islamic movements is not very
attractive."
Initially, Birt said, he had no coherent reasons for converting, but:
"In
the longer term, I think it was the overall profundity, balance, coherence
and
spirituality of the Muslim way of life which convinced me."
The faith has made inroads
into the Establishment. It emerged this
weekend that the great-granddaughter of a British
prime minister has
converted. Emma Clark, whose ancestor, the Liberal Prime Minister
Herbert
Asquith, took Britain into the First World War, said: "We're all the
rage; I hope
it's not a passing fashion."
Clark, who helped design an Islamic garden for the Prince
of Wales at
Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, is now helping create a similar
garden
for a mosque in Woking, Surrey, on the site of a car park.
Many converts have been
inspired by the writings of Charles Le Gai Eaton,
a former Foreign Office diplomat. Eaton,
author of 'Islam and the Destiny
of Man,' said: "I have received letters from people who
are put off by
the wishy-washy standards of contemporary Christianity and they
are
looking for a religion which does not compromise too much with the
modern
world."
Others have come to Islam through love or marriage. Kristiane
Backer, a
former friend of the cricketer Imran Khan, said she was introduced to
the
religion by him. She had shrunk from speaking publicly about Islam before
because
of fears it might affect her work prospects.
Some prominent converts are even more
wary. The Earl of Yarborough, 40,
who owns a 28,000-acre estate in Lincolnshire,
declined to discuss
anything about his faith. "I have nothing to say to you,"
said
Yarborough, who has apparently taken the name Abdul Mateen.
Muslim
leaders are harnessing modern campaigning methods to promote their
faith. Groups have
sprung up on the Internet publishing "trophy lists" of
white converts. The state-funded
school in London established by Yusuf
Islam, formerly the singer Cat Stevens, has turned to
Premiership
footballers to provide role models. Sources close to the school
say
converts including Nicolas Anelka, the Manchester City striker, and Omer
"Freddie"
Kanoute, of Tottenham Hotspur, have made visits.
Fresh evidence came this weekend
that Islam has received formal acceptance
at the heart of the Establishment.
The
Queen has approved arrangements to allow Muslim staff at Buckingham
Palace time off to
attend Friday prayers at a mosque: a member of staff
in the finance department is the first
to take advantage of
it.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=39960&d=23&m=2&y=2
004&pix
=world.jpg&category=World
In the Name of Almighty God, the
Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Islam Attracts Top Britons in a Growing Trend
Arab News - Staff Writer
JEDDAH, 23 February 2004 - Over 14,000 Britons
have embraced Islam,
according to the UK's Sunday Times.
Citing the first
authoritative study of the phenomenon, the paper said
that they had done so because of
disillusionment with Western values.
Some of Britain's top landowners, celebrities and
the offspring of senior
Establishment figures have embraced Islam.
The trend is
being encouraged by Muslim leaders who are convinced that the
conversion of prominent
figures will help protect a community stigmatized
by terrorism and
fundamentalism.
Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council, said:
"The
community has been unfairly targeted and these developments encourage it
in a
time of difficulty."
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain has co-opted Joe
Ahmed-Dobson,
son of Frank Dobson, the former Labour health secretary, to chair
its
regeneration committee.
The study by Yahya (formerly Jonathan) Birt, son of Lord
Birt, former
director-general of the BBC, provides the first reliable data on the
sensitive
subject of the movement of Christians into Islam. He uses a
breakdown of the latest
census figures to conclude that there are now
14,200 white converts in
Britain.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his faith, Birt, whose
doctorate at
Oxford University is on young British Muslims, argued that an
inspirational figure, similar to
the American convert Malcolm X for
Afro-Caribbeans, would first have to emerge if the next
stage, a mass
conversion among white Britons, were to happen.
"You need great
transitional figures to translate something alien (like
Islam) into the vernacular," he said.
"The image of Islam projected by
political Islamic movements is not very
attractive."
Initially, Birt said, he had no coherent reasons for converting, but:
"In
the longer term, I think it was the overall profundity, balance, coherence
and
spirituality of the Muslim way of life which convinced me."
The faith has made inroads
into the Establishment. It emerged this
weekend that the great-granddaughter of a British
prime minister has
converted. Emma Clark, whose ancestor, the Liberal Prime Minister
Herbert
Asquith, took Britain into the First World War, said: "We're all the
rage; I hope
it's not a passing fashion."
Clark, who helped design an Islamic garden for the Prince
of Wales at
Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, is now helping create a similar
garden
for a mosque in Woking, Surrey, on the site of a car park.
Many converts have been
inspired by the writings of Charles Le Gai Eaton,
a former Foreign Office diplomat. Eaton,
author of 'Islam and the Destiny
of Man,' said: "I have received letters from people who
are put off by
the wishy-washy standards of contemporary Christianity and they
are
looking for a religion which does not compromise too much with the
modern
world."
Others have come to Islam through love or marriage. Kristiane
Backer, a
former friend of the cricketer Imran Khan, said she was introduced to
the
religion by him. She had shrunk from speaking publicly about Islam before
because
of fears it might affect her work prospects.
Some prominent converts are even more
wary. The Earl of Yarborough, 40,
who owns a 28,000-acre estate in Lincolnshire,
declined to discuss
anything about his faith. "I have nothing to say to you,"
said
Yarborough, who has apparently taken the name Abdul Mateen.
Muslim
leaders are harnessing modern campaigning methods to promote their
faith. Groups have
sprung up on the Internet publishing "trophy lists" of
white converts. The state-funded
school in London established by Yusuf
Islam, formerly the singer Cat Stevens, has turned to
Premiership
footballers to provide role models. Sources close to the school
say
converts including Nicolas Anelka, the Manchester City striker, and Omer
"Freddie"
Kanoute, of Tottenham Hotspur, have made visits.
Fresh evidence came this weekend
that Islam has received formal acceptance
at the heart of the Establishment.
The
Queen has approved arrangements to allow Muslim staff at Buckingham
Palace time off to
attend Friday prayers at a mosque: a member of staff
in the finance department is the first
to take advantage of
it.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=39960&d=23&m=2&y=2
004&pix
=world.jpg&category=World