ROGER, meanwhile, has yet to tell family or work colleagues of his conversion. ‘I worry it will affect my career prospects,' he admits. ‘I know first-hand how little people understand Islam. I know there is prejudice based on ignorance. A couple of years ago, if someone had told me they had converted, I would have thought they were odd. I don't want people to think I am an oddity or a curiosity because I don't think of myself like that.' Most converts acknowledge that living in an ethnically diverse city has made conversion easier than it might have been elsewhere. Stefania Marchetti was born and raised in Milan but came to London to study in 1997. She converted to Islam from Catholicism in April last year. ‘It would have been far more difficult for me to convert in Italy,' she admits. ‘The Italian media is very anti-Islam and generally Italians think that Muslim men are all terrorists and all Muslim women are slaves.' Certainly Karen Allen, a 28-year-old scheduler for Sky TV from Stoke Newington, has enjoyed a relatively smooth transition period. She converted to Islam last June and soon started wearing the traditional headscarf or hijab. ‘When I first started wearing the hijab to work, there were a few jibes about Afghanistan and stuff, but people are fine now. They say things like: “That's a nice one you're wearing today.” ‘I think it might be more difficult outside London, but here there are a lot weirder things to look at than me.'What is especially striking about this stream of converts to Islam is that the majority seem to be women. Some suggest that twice as many women as men are turning to Islam. Batool Al Toma, who heads the New Muslim Project at the Leicester-based Islamic Foundation, which offers advice and support to recent converts, suggests this might be exaggeration, but admits that female converts are in the majority. ‘A lot of people seem to think that women are more susceptible to Islam. I think it's largely because a lot of people are obsessed with the idea of an educated, liberated British woman converting to Islam, which they feel subjugates and represses them in some way. We just get a lot more attention I suppose and that sparks people's interest.' The lure of Islam for women is surprising, given that the conversion process may be even more problematic for them than for men. There is the commonly-held belief that Islam represses women and female converts often have to deal with recrimination from female friends who view their adoption of Islam as some sort of betrayal. Certainly, all the women I spoke to were quick to refute the idea that Islam imposes a women-know-thy-place ideology. ‘The perception of how women are treated is completely incorrect,' insists Caroline. ‘Women have a fantastic position in Islamic society.' Indeed, many women converts talk about the adoption of the Islamic dress code as a liberation. They see it not as a denial of sex and sexuality but rather as an acknowledgement that these are treasures to be shared with a loved one and them alone. They are not hidden but rather freed from objectification. Asya insists that the trick is to turn preconceptions on their head. She wears a scarf to show she is a Muslim and a smile to prove she is happy being one. One problem for converts is that they are caught between two cultures. ‘Young Muslims are very accepting,' says Caroline. ‘They are really happy that you have chosen to become Muslim. The older generation are not so accepting. For them, Islam is part of their cultural background, it's about the country they came from and it's what binds their communities together.' One step towards greater acceptance came sometime back when Reedah Nijabat opened ArRum, an Islamic restaurant/cultural centre/social club in Clerkenwell. Nijabat, a 31-year-old former barrister and management consultant from Walthamstow, originally conceived ArRum as a meeting place and networking venue for professional first- and second-generation London Muslims. But it has also become a focal point for many of London's Muslim converts. It is easy to see why. On any work evening, a mixed bag of middle-aged Pakistani men, young couples (some Muslim, some curious non-Muslim), kids and white British converts chat and tuck into halal food.For the new converts I spoke to, ArRum is a place to meet other Muslims and somewhere to bring non-Muslim friends and introduce them to Islam in a way that doesn't scare them. ArRum accents Islam's unique characteristics among the major faiths: its openness and lack of hierarchy. A lot of people are going through a period of soul-searching and that can only be a good thing.' For many, that soul-searching has led them to Islam. __
