A British strand of Islam is emerging as more people become converts, the Economist reports. Using census data on race and religion and questionnaires issued to mosques, Kevin Brice, a researcher at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, reckons around 5,200 Britons turn to Islam every year, bringing the total number of converts to about 100,000. According to the report, those who embrace Islam tend to do so after years of contact with Muslims. Some, mostly women (who make up around two-thirds of new believers), want to marry a Muslim. Others are fed up with the bawdiness of British society. Many speak of seeking a sense of community. Batool al-Toma, an Irish-Catholic convert who runs the New Muslim Project in Leeds, was attracted, she says, by the spirituality of Islam and the warmth of relationships she saw among Muslims. For men, prisons have proven a fertile ground for conversions. Just over 11,000 prisoners are Muslims, about 13% of the total.

Pray: that those who are attracted to Islam will instead be led by the Holy Spirit to the ways of truth and find Jesus. (Jn.17:17)

More: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=109348

Prisons have been put on alert for copycat attacks after a warden was beaten and held hostage by Muslim prisoners in a high-security jail. It is thought the prisoners behind the attack were inspired by the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last week. The prison officer was threatened with a makeshift blade and held captive in an office for four hours at Full Sutton jail in East Yorkshire on Sunday night. He was badly beaten by the inmates and was freed only when riot squad officers stormed into the room. He was left with a broken cheekbone, while a female officer suffered slashing injuries to her arm when she tried to help him. The incident – which is being investigated by counter-terrorism police – prompted warnings that former service personnel working in jails could be at risk from radical Islamist inmates. Senior prison officials have sent an email to high-security jails and young offender institutions warning them about the threat.

Pray: that the prison officers will be protected from those who have radical tendencies and from further threats. (Ez.4:22)

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331919/Full-Sutton-Jail-attack-Terror-police-called-

The chief suspect in Saturday’s stabbing of a French soldier was a recent convert to Islam who was acting in accordance with his religious beliefs, French prosecution officials revealed Wednesday. The 21-year-old suspect, who was arrested early Wednesday in a Parisian suburb, had confessed to stabbing the French soldier, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins. According to Molins, video surveillance footage showed the suspect ‘saying a Muslim prayer’ shortly before attacking a French soldier patrolling a business neighbourhood west of Paris on Saturday. The pre-attack prayer combined with the fact that the stabbing occurred three days after the May 22 murder of a British soldier in London has led prosecutors to believe the suspect ‘was acting on the basis of religious beliefs,’ said Molins. ‘It seems clear the intent was to kill.’

Pray: against any further escalation of terrorist attacks by those acting in accordance with their religious belief. (Ps.109:28)

More: http://www.france24.com/en/20130529-france-stabbing-suspect-convert-islam-religiously-motivated-prosecutor