“What We Muslims Can Learn From Converts” – The Guardian

From The Guardian (UK)

“If there are challenges there are also some opportunities that come with the increasing number of converts. I admitted earlier that I was rather suspicious of converts; I also somewhat envy them, for they know far more about Islam than most British Pakistanis. For us religion and culture were so entangled that it was hard to distinguish one from the other. The conservatism of our working-class Pakistani culture blurred into the way our families practised religion. This meant, for example, that marrying outside of the faith, accepted by Islam, is routinely not accepted in the culture. They are not weighed down by the same baggage and thus can be a useful bridge between cultures and in nudging other Muslims towards a more liberal and tolerant direction on issues such as mixing between men and women in mosques and mixed-faith marriages.”

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/06/muslim-islam-uk-pakistan