A year and a half has passed since September 11th 2001. Now you would have thought that the events of 9/11 would have made non-Muslims hate Islam and the Muslims forever.
You would have thought that the September 11 attacks would have damaged the name of Islam forever but you know what…
It made many people study Islam to understand who exactly the Muslims are and what they’re all about. It made people go out and buy the Koran and as a result many British, Americans and non-Muslims across the world have accepted Islam! The huge interest in Islam since September 11 has brought a massive increase in conversions to Islam as never ever seen before. Now let’s check out the facts:
MASSIVE INTEREST IN ISLAM
The Observer
’Interest in Islam mounts after hijacking atrocity’
Martin Bright, Sunday September 1, 2002
“..A year ago they feared their religion would be tarred by the atrocities that left over 3,000 dead in the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. But Muslims across Britain are now crediting an '11 September factor' for the upsurge of interest in their religion.
From Islamic bookshops and university comparative religion courses to the dusty corridors of Whitehall, non-Muslims are rushing to find out more about the beliefs of Islam and the life of the Prophet Mohammed.
Sales of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, have gone through the roof. Penguin, the publishers of the best-known English-language translation of the Koran, registered a 15-fold increase in the three months following 11 September and sales have held up well since. “
MASSIVE INCREASE IN CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM
The Times
7 January 2002
'Allah came knocking at my heart' by Giles Whittell
“There is compelling anecdotal evidence of a surge in conversions to Islam since September 11, not just in Britain, but across Europe and America. One Dutch Islamic centre claims a tenfold increase, while the New Muslims Project, based in Leicester and run by a former Irish Roman Catholic housewife, reports a steady stream of new converts.
These are some of Islam’s more surprising converts. They have chosen their new creed over the world’s other great religions having had the privilege of choice, often confounding their own and their families’ prejudices in the process. They are highly articulate and tolerant to a degree. They’re people like us, only they’re not. They’re Muslims. They pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan and hope to go to Mecca before they die. They answer their mobiles with salaam alaikum.”
Californian North County Times
Islam stirs converts after September 11
Agnes Diggs, Staff Writer
“According to a study conducted in 2001 under the auspices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington D.C. and headed by Ihsan Bagby, a professor of International Studies at Shaw University in North California , 20,000 Americans convert to Islam, and about 7,000 of them are women. Some clerics reported conversion rates quadrupled after Sept. 11.”
Middle East Media & Research Institute
Excerpts from "Muslim American Leaders: A Wave of Conversion to Islam in the U.S. Following September 11" ©
‘A Wave of Conversion to Islam in the U.S. Following September 11’
"…34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of September 11, and this is the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there."
The New York Times, October 22 2001
’Islam Attracts Converts by the Thousands, Drawn Before and After Attacks’
By Jodi Wilgoren,
“..With some 6 million adherents in the United States, Islam is said to be the nation's fastest-growing religion, fuelled by immigration, high birth rates and widespread conversion. One expert estimates that 25,000 people a year become Muslims in this country; some clerics say they have seen conversion rates quadruple since Sept. 11.”
National Post, January 19 2002 CE
'New Muslims' by Marina Jiménez,
”There has been a surge in conversions since Sept. 11 both in the United States and in Europe. Many American and European converts are similar to those in the New Muslim class for converts run by the Islamic Society of Boston. They do not support terrorism, nor share the al-Qaeda credo. They are well-educated, articulate, former Christians; some are even Jewish and Hindu.
These new Muslims, like the approximately 25,000 Hispanic converts in New York and California, are surprise converts to a religion that is the fastest growing in the United States. There are now six million adherents across the country, and more than 30% of mosque attendees are converts, according to a recent survey by four Muslim-American groups.
Some had studied Buddhism, flirted with Roman Catholicism or spent time with Quakers, but ultimately found them lacking.”
Thehonoluluadvertiser.com
By Mary Kaye Ritz, Advertiser Religion Writer
“…Some Muslim clerics across the country say they are seeing a fourfold increase in conversion since September 11, when stories about Islam jumped from the back pages of the religion section to front pages world wide. Hakim Ouansafi, the president of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, said that prior to Sept 11, there had been an average of three converts per month. In the two months since then there had been 23. On the West coast, most of the O’ahu converts are former Christians. One’s even a single cosmetics saleswoman. More people are looking into this religion and liking what they see, despite the relentless media coverage of Muslim terrorists. One thing Sept 11 did was remind people that life is too short: ‘If I’m going to die, I want to die as a Muslim’, one convert said.”
So there you have it. September 11th has made people across the world seriously look into Islam. It is attracting everyone from across the globe. Black or white, rich or poor, American, European, Asian or African. Islam gives you a purpose of life. It gives you a peace of mind. It answers all your questions. That is why it is the fastest growing religion on the planet. So if you are afraid of Islam or you think it’s a religion for terrorist sand extremists then I suggest you study it and speak to educated Muslims and you know what; you will be assured that Islam is a peaceful religion which offers you a complete way of life and peace of mind.