Muslim Integration in the UK
Muslims in the UK: Integration or Co-existance
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Video: Misunderstanding of Islam
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Islam: reverts and renounces
At a time when Islam is considered to be a religion where the status of women is undervalued, it may be quite surprising to discover that the majority of converts to the faith are women.
Many of Britain’s “New Muslims” are from middle-class backgrounds. Some say the conversions are prompted by the rise of comparative religious education. Many converts are former Christians disenchanted by the uncertainty of the Church and unhappy with the concept of the Trinity.
A spokesperson for Bournemouth Mosque and Muslim Centre, Tariq Palmer is of British origin. He converted to Islam in 1990. In his 20s Mr. Palmer doubted the role of Jesus and the facts of the Trinity. “Nobody could really explain it to me least of all the Church of England. Even if one believed, that Jesus, peace be upon him, died for the sins of mankind.
[Tariq Palmer about Conversion]
However, Mr. Palmer said that the reasons women convert to Islam could be different. “I know a lot of sisters who convert to Islam, not because they married a Muslim man and it’s been forced on them. There is no compulsion, no force in Islam. Sisters become Muslim by choice, they have studied the religion. They understood how they are protected by the religion, which is, again, very misunderstood in the Western world.”
Mariam is originally from Spain and as the other girls she enjoyed the freedoms of the Spanish culture. Maria said that conversion was a choice she made with her heart and since her conversion she feels much happier. Maria married a Tunisian, however she came to Islam herself years after her marriage. She travelled to Tunisia for holidays and enjoyed the culture. “I was waking up in the mornings and heard that beautiful melody from mosque calling people for praying. It was amazing. It was holy Ramadan holiday for all Muslims and I have decided to fast… after fasting I realised something changed in me. So, I started to study Islam…
When I received the Holy Quran as a present I opened it and closed almost at the same time. It seemed very difficult for understanding and boring. But after my trip I open the Quran again and understood every single word, I was reading and crying. It seemed that it was my soul, my heart reading instead of me. It was a great feeling and that was a pure understanding of truth”
At the same time there are people leaving Islam in the West, both, women and men.
Parsa Karimi shared his story of leaving Islam: “I am happy I can publicly renounce Islam. I despise its violations of innumerable rights including freedom of expression. I hope that with the Council of Ex-Muslims I can promote free expression and thought and push back political Islam's role in human society. I believe people are born once and have the right to enjoy life.”
Council of ex-Muslims’ spokesperson, Maryam Namazie says “In this day and age everything is framed within the context of ‘faith', especially for those of us deemed to be Muslims - no matter how clearly and loudly we profess and live otherwise. I think this is in large part due to the existence of a political Islamic movement, which strives to gain legitimacy for its terror and misogyny by claiming to represent vast number of people under the label of Muslims.”