RECORD numbers of British women are converting to Islam

RECORD numbers of British women are converting to Islam.

There are up to 100,000 converts in the UK - up from around 60,000 in 2001 - with white women leading the trend, according to research for the Faith Matters organisation. A study by Swansea University, on behalf of Faith Matters, found 5,200 people converted to Islam in the UK last year.
And a survey of 122 converts last year showed 56 per cent were white British, with women making up 62 per cent of respondents.
Here, SAMANTHA WOSTEAR and DULCIE PEARCE speak to three women who have all embraced the faith.
EMMA TAYLOR, 30, from Reading, Berks, loved partying but converted to Islam. She says:
"I was raised a Catholic but after-school partying and living a wannabe WAG lifestyle became my religion. I loved buying sexy clothes and hanging out with mates.
As a filing clerk in an office I only earn £16,000 but until last year I managed to make it stretch by living in a shared house so I could spend my cash on looking and feeling good.
However in January last year, with my 30th birthday looming, I began to think that waking up with a hangover most mornings, having no long-term bloke in my life and no real ambition meant something was missing.
I'd also just come through a bad break-up and one night my Muslim mate invited me around for dinner.

'Wannabe WAG' ... Emma in her partying days

Susan was more stable and content than my friends and I always turned to her for advice even though, at 28, she was two years younger than me. She converted to Islam three years ago.
While I was at Susan's she broke away to pray. I watched and she seemed so at peace with her life. That's when I asked her about her religion.
She didn't earbash me but she suggested websites and that I should go to a mosque. She said everyone was welcome, if respectful of others.
On March 2 I went to mosque with her. She'd told me what I should wear and supplied me with a headscarf. The day changed my life.
Sitting with the other women I felt a weird sense of relief and acceptance come over me. For an hour my problems disappeared. I liked the boundaries, with the men separated from the women, and the sense of reverence, of kindness. For the first time ever I felt spiritually alive.
With my friend's help, I converted. It was a radical change for me and many of my other mates thought I was mad. I persevered and discovered the Muslim community is made up of many races and everyone is very welcoming.
Now I pray five times a day, read the Koran, go to mosque and have been welcomed by everyone - there are lots of young white women my age.
I haven't had a drink in six months - the longest since I started sneaking booze at 13. I'm healthier and happier.
I wear a hijab or head scarf almost all the time I leave the house and I also don't eat pork - I tell friends my love of bacon butties has been replaced with a love of my new religion."

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LEILA REEB, 29, converted to Islam when she was 25. She is married to Danny, 28, who also converted four years ago - before the couple met. The pair are both teachers and live in Milton Keynes, Bucks. Leila says:
"The usual reaction when people find out I converted to Islam in my twenties is curiosity.
My husband and I are both white and British so we're not what you'd think of as "typical" Muslims.
I had a normal upbringing in a typical UK family. Growing up, religion didn't really play any role in my life and I was a stereotypical teenager.

Convert couple ... Leila Reeb and husband Danny

I rebelled and got a tattoo and a lip ring. I had boyfriends and would go out drinking with my friends. At uni there was a big drinking culture and I did part-time bar work as well.
I didn't have any Muslim friends and had very stereotypical ideas of what Islam was about - a male- dominated culture where women were oppressed.
But all that changed when, aged 25, I went on holiday to Egypt. There I met Muslim locals and found myself absorbed by their culture. Hearing the call to prayer every day awoke something in me and I started to feel a strong spiritual connection to Islam.
I was astonished at how respectful the men seemed - not like the letches at home.
Once home I decided to find out more and I got in touch with a friend who had converted to Islam. He invited me to a talk and when I walked in, the room was full of women wearing niqabs. I thought they would judge me but they were so welcoming.
As I explored Islam more, it hit home that I felt a connection because it was what I believed anyway. I realised it made sense not to drink because it's bad for you and I found covering up was more liberating than being a slave to fashion.
Soon afterwards I made my declaration of faith and converted to Islam. It felt like the right thing to do but it took a few weeks for me to tell my family and I was nervous about their reaction.
At the time there were lots of terrorism arrests taking place in the UK. My family were worried at first but I made a real effort to show them that I hadn't changed.
I wear a headscarf but I chose not to wear the hijab and my family could see I was still the same person. Now they are very supportive.

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Danny and I come from non-Muslim families. We met online chatting about this and it's helped that we've had this shared experience. We got married two years ago in a mosque.

Most friends have been accepting. A few non-Muslim mates have struggled but there have been hardly any negative reactions.
We're lucky in the UK that everyone is free to be who they want to be. I'm proud to be British and to be Muslim - there's no conflict between the two.
I'm still reading the Koran and learning more about Islam all the time - it's not all been plain sailing. Eating Halal, and fasting for Ramadan, were big changes and waking up at 3am to pray never gets easier. But now I really believe in the life I am living. I've never once regretted my choice."

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TV host Kristiane Backer gave up a job on MTV and turned to Mecca when she turned 30. The German-born star, now 45, lives in London. She wears a headscarf only when praying and says:

'Inner beauty' ... Kristiane Backer

"I was introduced to Islam by my Muslim friends. I began to read about Islam and after three years of extensive research I decided to convert. Before then I was living the high life and getting the red carpet treatment. Designers would send me clothes to wear on TV but I always felt there was something missing in my life.

Looking back, I think I had a crisis. I was always rushing from one job to the next and it was tough being on the road. I started to question what it was all for.
Material possessions don't bring happiness and women feel so pressured to fit in with what is considered beautiful. Islam recognises inner beauty and offers an alternative value system that really impressed me. I think that's why so many women are converting.
Religion doesn't suppress women - men do. I have never worn the full-face veil.
If we knew more about Islam, it would be harder for terrorists to hide behind religion to justify their violence."