Conversion To Islam

Ali Kose, Kose

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780710305466
• eBook ISBN: 9781136168451
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

First Published in 1996. Religious conversion is an immensely complex phenomenon. The term comprises such diverse experiences as increased devotion within the same religious structure, a shift from no religious commitment to a devout religious life, or a change from one religion to another. This study focuses on the conversion experiences of 70 native British converts to Islam. It addresses the following questions - why do people become Muslims, what are the backgrounds of the converts, what are the patterns of conversion to Islam, and how far are existing conversion theories applicable to the group under study. The full range of social and psychological forces at work in the conversion experience are examined with reference to the converts, whose whole life history - childhood, adolescent experiences and the conversion process itself - were examined in detail. Chapter 1 deals with the history and present situation of both life-long Muslims and converts living in Britain. Chapter 2 focuses on childhood and adolescent experiences reviewing the psychological and sociological theories of conversion and attempts to find out how far these theories are applicable to the converts to Islam. Chapter 3 examines the backgrounds of the converts regarding religion. It then analyzes the immediate antecedents of the conversion as well as the conversion process, focussing on version motifs. A conversion process model is also developed in this chapter. Chapter 4 looks at the post-conversion period to find out what changes the converts underwent. It also examines the relationship between converts, their parents and society at large. Chapter 5 reveals the findings on conversion through Sufism. Comparisons between conversion through Sufism and through new religious movements in the West are also made. This study should be an important addition to the study of religious conversion, as conversion to Islam either from outside or within Islam is widely neglected in the literature.

ONE
MUSLIMS IN BRITAIN

A Immigrant Muslims of Britain

1 Their history

Muslim migration and settlement in Britain dates from the middle years of the 19th century when Muslim seamen from Yemen, Somalia and South Asia came to settle in such ports as Cardiff, Liverpool, and London (Collins, 1957:11). In more recent times, due to the industrial growth in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s large industrial cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester have been attracting a rapidly increasing Muslim population. This period has brought a large number of Muslim migrants to this country from the Indian subcontinent. After the Second World War, Muslims, particularly from the Commonwealth countries, found their way to Britain in connection with trade, commerce, education and service. By the end of the war the number of Indian Muslims in Britain had exceeded 30,000. In 1949 it was estimated that there were more than 43,000 Pakistanis in Britain (Hunter, 1962: 17–18).

Muslim migration and settlement in the 1950s, after the Second World War, has many different characteristics in comparison to that which took place during the late 19th and early 20th century. It is different not only in terms of the nature and size of the migratory movement, but also the geographical and religious backgrounds of the migrants. Unlike the Muslim settlements in the dockland areas of seaports a century ago, it is characterised by a substantial Muslim settlement in the industrialised inner cities (Ally, 1982: 90). After the war due to rapid economic growth and post-war reconstruction there was an intense shortage of labour in Britain as well as Europe and the colonies became the best recruiting market. To this end Britain made attempts to attract workers from abroad, and exploited its historical links with India and Pakistan (Rose, et al, 1969: 78–81; Shaw, 1988:12). Further, in the post-war period, due to the creation of the new independent states of Pakistan and Bangladesh, these countries were facing serious economical, social and political problems which was a catalyst for emigration (Allen, 1971: 36–7). Regarding religious background, in contrast to the West African origin Sufi oriented Arab groups, the Muslims of India and Pakistan were much more influenced by the 20th century religious groups, like the Jamaat-i Islami and the Tablighi Jamaat.

Turkish Cypriots were the second largest Muslim community migrating to Britain. As the Greeks began to seek political union with Greece the tension between the Greek and the Turkish community was exacerbated in the 1950s and many Turks migrated to Britain. Many East and West Africans also came to Britain in the 1960s (Ally, 1982: 97, 103).

In analysing the history of Muslims in Britain one can identify that the primary motivating factor for the migratory movements in 1950s and 1960s was economic (Anwar, 1979: 25). Most of those who migrated at the beginning were unskilled workers. They were hardly educated in their own language and basic culture. They came alone with the ultimate intention of returning home after a few years. The most overriding character of Muslim migration as a whole is that it followed the pattern of the husband arriving first and being joined later by his wife and family. So there was a preponderance of male Muslims in the 1950s and 1960s in Britain (Rex and Moore, 1967: 116). However, when Britain introduced the Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962 to put an end to its ‘open door’ policy, many non-working dependants and more workers arrived due to the threat of immigration control by the British government. The 1962 Act then imposed a system of regulation through the issue of employment vouchers according to their skills and qualifications. Finally, the 1971 Immigration Act made it impossible for all but the wealthiest entrepreneurs to enter the UK from the ‘New Commonwealth’, thus ending the migration of single men. This Act still permitted the entry of dependants, although the mode of its operation and subsequent further restrictions delayed the arrival of many and prevented others from coming altogether (Rose, et al, 1969: 82–5). So the migration of a substantial number of dependants of workers already in Britain meant more permanent settlement for Muslims and the concern for community increased. Religion in terms of establishing organisations; thus education became the primary concern.

2 The contemporary Muslim community

Britain’s Muslims could be classified broadly as: (a) immigrant workers; (b) students (there are about 30,000 Muslim students in British Universities) (Kettani, 1986: 41); (c) professionals and businessmen; (d) diplomatic business personnel; and (e) native British Muslims. It is the first group that is by far the most numerous and these are mainly persons intending to stay in Britain permanently (Johnstone, 1981: 169).

There is no accurate figure for the total number of Muslims in Britain since Britain does not keep religious statistics. The estimates range from 750,000 to 1 million. The majority of the Muslim community, between 300,000 and 400,000 is from Pakistan. Other groups of Muslims include Bengalis (60,000), Indians (80,000), Turkish Cypriots (50,000), Turks (5,000–20,000), Arabs (120,000), Malaysians (30,000), East Africans (30,000–90,000), Iranians (25,000–50,000), Nigerians (20,000) and others (30,000) (see Neilsen, 1992: 41). The vast majority of Muslims in Britain are Sunni but Britain also has around 25,000 Shi’ite Muslims from Iran and around 15,000 Ahmadis from India (McHugh, 1990: 36), who are considered to be outside the pale of Islam.

Geographically, the Muslim population is not uniformly spread throughout Britain. The majority is resident in the largest industrial cities such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Bradford. The regional pattern varies considerably from one Muslim nationality to another, for instance, while Bengalis are settled in East London, Oldham, and Bradford, Turkish Cypriots live in North and South East London (Ally, 1982: 120–2; Nielsen, 1992: 42–3).

During the first years of their migration, Muslims did not intend to settle permanently and they knew they were coming to a strange society and their expectations were limited. This attitude led to a lack of desire to learn English or to set up social organisations. However, with the arrival of the families in the 1960s and 1970s this orientation changed in favour of settlement. Consequently the second generation now does not feel they are immigrants at all, and consider Britain their home. So this growing tendency towards settlement brought the establishment of ethnic, socio-economic and religious institutions to cater for the community’s need (Dahya, 1973: 245; Ally, 1982: 127). The Muslims began to take steps to emphasise their religious and cultural traditions and they built mosques and made religious instruction available to their children by running weekend schools, and occasionally full-time private primary/secondary schools.

Although religious identification is generally strong among Muslims in Britain, the degree of religious observance and attending worship seem to be in decline when compared to that of home. For some it may be stronger than it would be back home because some who regard themselves as exiles in a strange land may identify more strongly with their religion. On the other hand, some who practised their religion in their homeland may sometimes throw it to the wind when they come to Britain (Hunter, 1985: xi). The Muslim community seems to consist of both extremes. Some Muslims apparently take great pride in being anglicised, proving their ‘modernity’ through adopting an English life-style in their homes. They gradually develop a self-centred, individualistic and secularist approach. One example for this is the Turkish Cypriot community that is more secularised than any other ethnic Muslim community. What is very obvious is that there is a trend towards a weakening in religious observance within the community as far as the second generation is concerned. Anwar (1986: 17), in a survey, covering nearly 8,000 Muslims, found that a higher percentage (35%) of young Muslims as compared with parents (20%) never go to a mosque. In their survey of Pakistanis Rex and Moore (1967: 170) concluded:

Although the Pakistani community remains apart socially and culturally from the host society, there are none the less some signs at the margins of lapsing both from Islam and from Pakistani culture. Religious duties are overlooked. An increasing number of Pakistanis drink alcohol.

Due to their ethnic and religious background, the Muslim community in Britain today faces problems relating to determining its identity and establishing itself as a community. Among them religious, racial, and educational problems as well as unemployment,¹ and lack of leadership can be highlighted. Problems concerning religious education of Muslim children and lack of proper leadership have always been the areas that Muslims talk about most.

In the last five decades Muslims have established their own places of worship and organisations of which the vast majority have their roots in the country of origin. Most of them have a local character and their activities are very limited, but some have a nationwide effect within the community. There were about 80 mosques in 1970 (Hiro, 1971: 146), and around 250–300 in the 1980s (Anwar, 1980: 111; Neilsen, 1992: 45). Now their number is estimated at over 1,000; most being small and located in terraced houses (Mohammad, 1991: 49). Religious activities taking place in the mosques are organised by Muslim organisations. The mosque has often been used as an instrument of sectarianism and a forum ground for power politics back in the country of origin. In every city where there is a Muslim community there are tens of Muslim organisations. The majority of these organisations are small existing mainly on paper, but there are larger national organisations concerned with welfare, education, and da’wah (mission). Some of these organisations are popular because they are a reflection of the movements or political parties that exist in the homeland. Some of the most well-known organisations are: UK Islamic Mission, Islamic Foundation, Islamic Propagation Centre, Islamic Cultural Centre, the Tablighi Jamaat, Ahli Hadith, and the Muslim Parliament.

Apart from sectarian and mission organisations there are a number of service and publishing or media organisations. The former includes a few charities such as Muslim Aid, London, and Islamic Relief, Birmingham, and such organisations as the Muslim Women’s Association and Muslim Educational Trust. The latter type of organisations are specialised in publishing books and papers about Islam and Muslims in Britain. The Islamic Foundation, for example, is one of them which concerns itself with the publication of Islamic literature in English.

The Muslim organisations lack a strong central organisational set-up. There is almost no institutional relationship between different organisations. This leads to a lack of recognition by the British authorities. In the course of this research it is observed that organisations are making little progress in their mission towards both Muslims and non-Muslims. So far as non-Muslims are concerned the findings of this research prove that their mission is far from being successful. Of the 70 converts, who were interviewed for this research, only 23 (32.8%) got in touch with or were introduced to Muslim organisations or groups in Britain during the process of conversion and their introduction was not the result of a direct missionary activity. Most of the organisations have also failed to gain the support of the Muslim community. There are several reasons for their failure: (a) The same divisions in the motherland still exist in Britain; (b) the immigrant founders of organisations who belong to a generation of a different background have failed to develop a structure for the new generation; and (c) these organisations have failed to grasp the dynamics of western society.

It may be concluded then that though the Muslims of Britain are a religious and cultural entity, they are not yet an organised community. It has been suggested that there are three options for Muslims in Britain: assimilation, isolation and integration (Mohammad, 1991: 107). Muslims do live in isolation to some extent in terms of living according to their tradition and religion, but politically and economically they seem to have integrated into British structure. It appears that there is a willingness among Muslims in Britain to adapt to the social structure of this country without losing their identity as Muslims. As a community they have become a part of the social structure of the new society (Anwar, 1986: 6, 20). In this respect, Muslims can be classified as an integrating community in general.

In the late 19th century, and in the early 20th century, while Britain was witnessing the migration of the Muslim population the number of converts to Islam was relatively increasing. Now I turn to the history of native British Muslims who converted to Islam.

B Native British Muslims

1 Their history

When Islam emerged in the seventh century in the Arab Peninsula, Arabs were not aware of the existence of England; and the Prophet Muhammad was a young man when the English converted to Christianity (Daniel, 1975: 10). There was a story of St Willibald (Bishop of Eichstadt) who went on a pilgrimage towards the middle of the eighth century. Landing at Tortosa in Syria from Cyprus, St Willibald and seven other Englishmen were soon arrested by ‘pagan Saracens’, who ‘did not know what people they were, and thought they must be spies.’ They were rescued by the intervention of a Spanish chamberlain of the ‘Saracen king’ and they were brought in front of the caliph; he asked them where they came from, and was told that ‘these men come from the Western shore, where the sunset takes place, and we do not know of any land beyond, and nothing but waters.’ The ruler answered, ‘Why should we punish them? They have not committed any offence against us. Put them on the road …’ (Daniel, 1975: 49).

Then in the following centuries Islam was seen as an offshoot or heresy of Christianity (Hourani, 1991: 10; Daniel, 1975: 231). However, at the beginning of the 13th century England came very near conversion to Islam. According to Matthew Paris,² King John (1199–1216) of England in 1213 sent a secret embassy, three envoys; one cleric called Master Robert of London and two laymen to the ruler of Morocco, Muhammad an-Nasser, to seek his military support for John against his rebellious barons. King John’s relationship with papacy may have also motivated him in his decision to seek help from the ruler of Morocco since the time of King John was the climax and watershed in the history of the political relations of England with the papacy (Knowles, 1958: 418). Matthew Paris writes that the envoys were instructed to tell the King of Morocco that he would voluntarily give up to him himself and his Kingdom and he would abandon the Christian faith, which he considered false, and would faithfully adhere to Islam. Yet the request was turned down by the ruler of Morocco.³ By the time of King John, the British also became familiar with Muslim powers in Spain. Many Englishmen had returned home from studying in Spain (Daniel, 1975: 108, 273). In the same century the Koran was available to the English in Latin translation (Hourani, 1991: 8).

Throughout the Middle Ages, during or after the Crusades, the image of Islam and Muslims in the European or British mind was being built on misinformation about Islam that was described as a form of polytheistic idol worship. The West perceived the East as a dangerous region where Islam flourished and monstrous races multiplied and thrived (Kabbani, 1986: 14). It was also supposed to be an ordinance of the religion of the Saracens ‘to rob, to make prisoner and to kill the adversaries of God and their prophet, and to persecute and destroy them in every way’ (Watt, 1972: 75). The image of violent Arabs was mixed with the image of Islam and this image remained throughout the Middle Ages.

The reports on the first large-scale conversion to Islam do not trace back before the late 19th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were a relatively large number of English converts to Islam in Britain and the first two Islamic organisations led by converts were growing. At that time in Britain, there were a substantial amount of Muslim students and professionals. Since the students and professionals came from a high class in their own society and they had a good command of English, they easily moved among British middle and upper class society. They were able to attract the interest of the British more than the seamen settled in dockland areas (Ally, 1982:48). The first conversion of an Englishman in this period was that of a peer called Lord Stanley of Alderley, an uncle of Bertrand Russell (Clark, 1986: 41). This was followed by the conversion of William H. Quilliam of Liverpool, a well-known lawyer and an eloquent speaker. Quilliam’s journey to Morocco in 1887 gave him the opportunity to study Islam and he soon became Muslim.⁴ He went on to become the founder of the Liverpool Mosque and Muslim Institute.

(a) The Liverpool Mosque and Muslim Institute After his conversion Quilliam began to spread the message of Islam and steadily made converts. His first converts were his own family, including his mother and his three sons. He published a number of booklets and from 1893 to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Muslims in Britain
• 2. On the Way to Conversion
• 3. Conversion Process
• 4. Postconversion
• 5. Conversion through Sufism
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index