-----Original Message----- From: Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 3:32 PM To: Bruce Tefft Subject: Re: Allah's Recruits; Why more and more Westerners are defecting to Islam
Western societies had better start closely monitoring converts, because profiling is going to become SOP and once it is, the blond, blue-eyed converts are going to become al-Qaeda's "A-team." Statistically, Muslims are more likely to become terrorists than followers of other faiths. Statistically, converts are more likely to become terrorists than people born into Islam. It just makes sense to monitor them, which is why it probably won't happen anytime soon - certainly not before some all-convert cell carries off a successful attack. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Tefft <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:05 am Subject: Allah's Recruits; Why more and more Westerners are defecting to Islam To: Bruce Tefft <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1229125,00.html > > Sunday, Aug. 20, 2006 > Allah's Recruits > Why more and more Westerners are converting to Islam and, in some > cases,pursuing an extremist path > By JUMANA FAROUKY / LONDON > Jamal Harwood prays five times a day. He doesn't drink, smoke or > eat pork. > He's active in his local Muslim community, and he's very serious > about the > need for an Islamic state. But if you passed him on the street, > you would > have no idea. Not just because Harwood, a financial consultant in > London,wears a suit instead of traditional Muslim dress. Or > because he keeps his > beard cropped fashionably close. But because he's white. > Born in Vancouver, Harwood used to be a model Christian, studying > the Bible, > attending church and taking religion classes at school. "But I had > certainreservations," he says, "certain question marks in my mind-- > sometheological, some societal--that I wanted to reconcile." He > went to > Southeast Asia to find himself and explored Islam there. At 25 he > settled in > London, where friends helped him learn more about the faith. A > year later, > he converted and soon joined Hizb ut-Tahrir, a political party > known for its > radical views that is banned in many Muslim countries. Harwood, > 45, is now a > spokesman for the group; he says it is opposed to terrorism. > Although his > life choices may make him an object of scrutiny by his government-- > Hizbut-Tahrir has been on Britain's watch list since the July 2005 > terroristattacks in London--he has no regrets. "I found that Islam > was giving me > good, solid answers to my questions," he says. "It wasn't > difficult for me > to embrace it." > That sentiment rings true for growing numbers of Westerners, > reared on other > faiths or none at all, who are converting to Islam--despite the > fact that > relations between the Muslim world and the West have rarely seemed so > strained. Although figures on conversions to Islam in Western > countries are > difficult to nail down, it's safe to say that Muslim converts in > the U.S. > and Europe number in the hundreds of thousands, and anecdotal evidence > suggests the number is on the rise. The arrest of at least three > Englishconverts in the plot to blow up passenger jets over the > Atlantic has raised > the troubling possibility that jihadist groups may be drawing some > of their > most committed operatives from the pool of new believers. "When > converts are > trying to find their way in their new religion, they are > vulnerable to the > influence of extremists," says Didier-Yacine Beyens, former > president of > Belgium's Muslim Executive and a convert. "They can sometimes be > persuadedby radical preachers who claim to represent the 'true' > voice of Islam, when > in fact they represent nothing of the sort." > The vast majority of converts are, like the vast majority of Muslims, > moderates who reject the extremism espoused by al-Qaeda and its > ilk. But as > with any religion, converts to Islam tend to be more devout than > those born > into the faith. And it's indisputable that some converts do, in > fact, become > terrorists, including shoe-bomb suspect Richard Reid; Jose > Padilla, the > Chicago native arrested four years ago for involvement in an alleged > al-Qaeda plot to detonate a radiological bomb; and Germaine > Lindsay, a > Jamaican-born Briton who was one of the suicide bombers who > attacked the > London Underground last summer. "Originally, jihadist groups were > suspiciousof converts because they saw them as a way for > intelligence forces to > infiltrate," says Gustavo de Aristegui, a Spanish terrorism expert > and the > author of Jihad in Spain. "But they're realizing that ... someone > with a > Western last name and blue eyes is going to raise fewer > suspicions. Converts > can be virtually impossible to detect, especially if they have not > revealedtheir conversion to their family." > So why do they do it? In this day and age, what kind of person is > prone to > explore religious conversion? And what is the attraction of Islam? > The three > British converts arrested two weeks ago have three things in > common: all are > men, all are described by people who know them as friendly, > regular guys, > and all are in their 20s. But the similarities pretty much end there. > According to accounts from friends, Don Stewart-Whyte, who changed > his name > to Abdul Waheed, converted six months ago, giving up drugs and > alcohol. He > grew a beard, shaved his head and started wearing traditional > Islamic dress. > Friends say Brian Young, who is of West Indian descent, was > troubled by the > decadence of Western society. Oliver Savant, now called Ibrahim, > has been a > Muslim for some seven years and, friends say, never mentioned > politics. "He > just talked about soccer and general chitchat," says a friend. > The reasons converts give for making the change vary widely. But > one common > refrain is that in an increasingly secular world in which > society's rules > get looser by the day, Islam provides a detailed moral map covering > everything from friendships to protecting the environment. And for > Westernyouths, taking up Islam can also serve as an outlet for > rebellion. A > majority of converts, especially in Western Europe, are in their > late teens > or 20s. "Islam is a kind of refuge for those who are downtrodden and > disenfranchised because it has become the religion of the > oppressed," says > Farhad Khosrokhavar, a Paris professor and the author of several > books on > Muslim extremism. "Previously--say, 20 years ago--they may have chosen > communism or gone to leftist ideologies. Now Islam is the religion > of those > who fight against imperialism, who are treated unjustly by the > arrogantWestern societies and so on." > There's another appeal to converting to Islam: it's relatively > easy. In > Catholicism and Judaism, the conversion process can involve years of > preparation and study. In Islam, the process is called reversion > (becauseislam literally means "submission to God," believers hold > that everyone is > born Muslim), and it's mainly a matter of uttering a two-line > declaration of > faith, the Shahadah. Say the Shahadah aloud in Arabic, and the > conversion is > complete. > But being newcomers to the faith doesn't spare converts from the > suspicionsand pressures faced by Muslims in the West today. Ali > Khan, the national > director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago, says he once > had to > convince a recent convert's wife, who wasn't Muslim, that her husband > wouldn't suddenly become a terrorist. "A lot of their families > freak out at > first," Khan says. He says another convert had to reassure his > brother, who > asked, "You're not going to kill me in my sleep, are you?" And yet > there'slittle evidence that negative perceptions of Islam--fewer > than 20% of > Americans say they have a positive image of the religion, > according to one > poll--have had any effect on the rate of conversion. Instead, > since 9/11, > some mosques have seen a jump in the number of people converting > to Islam. > "Awareness of Islam is much greater now, whether positive or > negative, than > it was prior to September 11," says Khan. "People are becoming > curious.Sometimes it starts when they just walk into a bookshop > and start reading a > Koran after hearing George Bush talking about it." > Ultimately, the path that most converts choose will be determined > by the > outcome of the larger struggle within Islam, between the forces of > moderation and extremism. Abdula, 22, a tall, bearded Londoner of > Ghanaiandescent, was a devout Christian until a university friend > introduced him to > Islam. "I started researching more about it to try and find its > faults," he > says. "But I couldn't, and I was captured." Abdula (who won't give > his last > name) officially converted eight months ago. He supports equality > for women > and condemns terrorism, but he acknowledges that his perspective > on the > world is still taking shape. "These are my views, and you must > understandthey might not be correct because I'm always in need of > guidance." The > challenge for the West is to makes sure men like Abdula get the > right kind. > With reporting by With reporting by Lisa Abend / Madrid, Geoff > Pingree / > Madrid, Theunis Bates / London, Jessica Carsen / London, Adam > Smith / > London, Jeremy Caplan / New York, Leo Cendrowicz / Brussels, Grant > Rosenberg/ Paris > <http://img.timeinc.net/time/images/blank.gif> > Copyright C 2006 Time Inc. > > > FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics > in this > message are copyrighted, unless specifically > noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. > Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and > discussionpurposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria > established in Section > 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. 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