Record numbers of young, white British women are converting to Islam. Of the British citizens going through the conversion, more than half were white and 75% of them were women, according to an article Richard Peppiatt, (Women & Islam: The rise and rise of the convert, published on The Independent. Many of them apparently find it a struggle to assimilate their previous beliefs with that of their newly adopted religion More than three-quarters told researchers they had experienced high levels of confusion after conversion, due to the conflicting ways Islam was presented to them.

Record numbers of young, white British women are converting to Islam. Of the British citizens going through the conversion, more than half were white and 75% of them were women, according to an article Richard Peppiatt, (Women & Islam: The rise and rise of the convert, published on The Independent. Many of them apparently find it a struggle to assimilate their previous beliefs with that of their newly adopted religion More than three-quarters told researchers they had experienced high levels of confusion after conversion, due to the conflicting ways Islam was presented to them.

It is a free world. You can convert to any religion you want but you have the right and obligation to yourself to know as much of it as you can. Make sure you have all the information at hand to make the right decision for yourself. Are you aware for example, that should you change your mind in the future, the penalty of apostasy in Islam is death?

In the Koran 2:217:

They ask thee concerning fighting in the Prohibited Month. Say: "Fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members." Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. And if any of you turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein.

The Tafsir al-Qurtubi, a classic and thoroughly mainstream exegesis of the Qur'an. About 2:217, Qurtubi says this:

Scholars disagree about whether or not apostates are asked to repent. One group say that they are asked to repent and, if they do not, they are killed. Some say they are given an hour and others a month. Others say that they are asked to repent three times, and that is the view of Malik. Al-Hasan said they are asked a hundred times. It is also said that they are killed without being asked to repent.

Qurtubi never says anything like "some say the apostate should not be killed." The only point of contention seems to be how long the Muslim must wait before he kills the apostate.

(Source: Article - Is the death penalty for apostasy in the Qur'an? Yes it is, sweet little Rifqa)

We hope that at least in countries like the UK, the US and Australia, people are able to 'moderate' their beliefs and not actually follow through and enforce their religious 'duties'. We know that at least with Christians, prescriptions such as these are largely ignored and disobeyed. Will Muslims go through a similar transition? My guess and my hope is yes... but so long as we remain to be largely secular.

Do you know of anybody who recently converted to Islam? What were there reasons? How did they find the transition?