Increase in Muslim converts in France after Charlie Hebdo

The number of people accepting Islam in France
has increased significantly after the Charlie
Hebdo attacks, with imams reporting a growing
number of people coming to take the Shahada at
mosques.
“It makes me want to go to Islam and to show
everyone that this is not what Islam is about,” a
young Muslim convert to Islam was quoted by
RTL Radio a week ago.
According to the radio station, the Great Mosque
of Paris issued 40 reversion certificates to Islam.
At the same period last year, the mosque gave
certificates to 22 only, almost 50 percent of this
year’s conversion rate.
Percentage of converts to Islam in Strasbourg and
Aubervilliers was also high, scoring around 30%
increase.
Lyon also followed the same trend with an
increase of 20%.
The imams said they were surprised at first by
the increase in the number of new converts.
Additionally, the diversity of those converts,
including a doctor, a school headteacher or a
police officer who all crossed the gate of the
Grand Mosque to accept Islam.
A few days after Charlie Hebdo attack, a French
business director Isabelle Matic , announced her
decision to revert to Islam on her FaceBook
account.
As well as condemning the attackers as
unIslamic, French Muslims also called for the
criminalisation of insulting religions amid
increasing anger around over Charlie Hebdo’s
decision to publish new cartoons of Prophet
Muhammad (saw).

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