Press Release
RISE IN EDUCATED FEMALE MUSLIM CONVERTS IN THE UK, SHATTER POPULAR MYTHS REGARDING ISLAM'S OPPRESSION OF WOMEN

According to recent comments by Kevin Brice, an expert at Swansea University in white conversions to Islam in the UK, well-educated white women are more likely to convert to Islam than any other groups. He describes a 60-40 split in favor of female conversions to Islam, and that they show a "better educational profile" than the average population, with increasing numbers of young, university-educated women in their twenties and thirties converting. He states, "They seek spirituality, a higher meaning, and tend to be deep thinkers."

 In the 2001 Census, there were 30,000 British Muslim converts. According to Brice, this number is now closer to 50,000, with the majority being women. Female conversions to Islam outnumber male ones in most Western countries. In the US, women constitute 75% of all such conversions (Council on American-Islamic Relations). Brice explains that the common theme in female conversions in the UK is that Islam offered women protection and a sense of identity, noting that women who converted are more likely to adopt the Islamic headscarf than those who are born into the religion. He states, "Through wearing modest clothing, all the way to a head scarf, it's no longer about how you look...It's getting free from this idea that you are defined by your dress size."   

 Dr. Nazreen Nawaz, Women's Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain commented, "For centuries the subject of women and Islam has been swathed in misinformation, misunderstanding, and misconceptions. In many Western countries, the idea that Islam oppresses the woman has assumed the status of undeniable fact, an indisputable truth. This growing trend of educated female conversions to the religion in the West challenges the myths regarding Islam's mistreatment of women. It strongly undermines the popular Western narrative that pits Islam as the antithesis of women's rights and the modern, educated woman."

 "For those individuals who see beyond the tirade of negative accusations against Islam from certain Western politicians, journalists, and academics, and who study the religion with independent, sincere, unbiased minds, they will discover a belief that instills a sense of human purpose, away from meaningless hedonistic, and materialistic lives. It is an ideology that elevates the status of women within society and obligates that she be treated with respect by men always; a system that stands as the antithesis of capitalism and its sexual exploitation and devaluing of women in the name of increasing profit margins; a way of life that defines the woman's dignity as sacrosanct, prohibiting her objectification and commodification as an ornament of male desire, and that pioneered equal rights of citizenship for women 1400 years ago."

 "In contrast to the prevalent label of ‘subjugation' associated with the headscarf and Islamic dress, female converts who embrace the garment, see a dress code that liberates them from defining their self-worth according to their waist-size, body-shape, and the gaze of others. It frees them from the constraints of secular liberal societies that police a template of female beauty and fashion, where being fat or old is viewed as a crime, and where unrealistic ideals cripple the self-esteem of women who are unable to match flawless airbrushed images. It is a dress that empowers them by elevating their status beyond physical appearance, focusing society's attention to their mind and skills and away from their bodies - reflecting a belief system that refuses to accept that a woman's looks rather than her abilities should be her passport to success."

 "This ‘indisputable' rising trend of educated female converts to Islam in the West surely merits thinking individuals at minimum to question the soundness of the dominant negative stereotypes surrounding Islam's treatment of women. In addition, it should surely give space for genuine consideration of an alternative value system to secular liberalism to address the disrespect and abuses facing women globally. This web of lies spun around this subject for centuries needs to be disentangled, for as is so often the case it is the truth that has become hidden under this deeply entrenched negative propaganda."

Hizb ut Tahrir Britain