British Muslim Converts: Choosing Alternative Lives

When the Western mass-media talk of conversion to Islam, we are bombarded with accounts of vulnerable people brainwashed into a culture of extremism. However, in reality, the vast majority who convert are well-educated, liberal in outlook, and doing so as the result of a long-considered and heart-felt decision. What is more, their numbers are growing. In British Muslim Converts, Kate Zebiri looks at these cases of conversion, and examines the contribution that converts are making to an indigenous Western Islamic thought and discourse. Overcoming the West/Islam divide just by virtue of who they are, Zebiri examines the converts’ unique potential to act as cultural mediators between Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as their ability to act as a reforming force. Informed by interviews with converts as well as published and internet material, this fascinating study is the only exploration of this unique group in British society.