THE INDEPENDENT: The number of Britons converting to Islam has doubled in 10 years. Why? Jerome Taylor and Sarah Morrison investigateThe number of Britons choosing to become Muslims has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to one of the most comprehensive attempts to estimate how many people have embraced Islam.
Following the global spread of violent Islamism, British Muslims have faced more scrutiny, criticism and analysis than any other religious community. Yet, despite the often negative portrayal of Islam, thousands of Britons are adopting the religion every year.
Estimating the number of converts living in Britain has always been difficult because census data does not differentiate between whether a religious person has adopted a new faith or was born into it. Previous estimates have placed the number of Muslim converts in the UK at between 14,000 and 25,000.
But a new study by the inter-faith think-tank Faith Matters suggests the real figure could be as high as 100,000, with as many as 5,000 new conversions nationwide each year.
By using data from the Scottish 2001 census – the only survey to ask respondents what their religion was at birth as well as at the time of the survey – researchers broke down what proportion of Muslim converts there were by ethnicity and then extrapolated the figures for Britain as a whole.
In all they estimated that there were 60,699 converts living in Britain in 2001. With no new census planned until next year, researchers polled mosques in London to try to calculate how many conversions take place a year. The results gave a figure of 1,400 conversions in the capital in the past 12 months which, when extrapolated nationwide, would mean approximately 5,200 people adopting Islam every year. The figures are comparable with studies in Germany and France which found that there were around 4,000 conversions a year. >>>Jerome Taylor and Sarah Morrison | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
BBC: 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 by Kevin Brice of Swansea University.
The study, on behalf of the Faith Matters organisation, 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.
One convert in Wales, Jane, talks to Felicity Evans of BBC Radio Wales about why she chose to follow the faith and change her life. Listen to BBC audio >>> | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Surge in Britons converting to Islam: White women lead a wave of Britons embracing Islam, with a 50 per cent rise in converts living in this country in a decade according to a new report. >>> | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
