So recently Lauren Booth converted to Islam. For those of you who do not know who Lauren Booth is, Lauren is Tony Blair's sister-in-law. (Tony Blair is the former Prime Minister of England). Lauren Booth is a human rights activist and a journalist.
Her work as a human rights activist lead her to Gaza in August 2008. While in Gaza she noted that the situation in Gaza is "the largest concentration camp in the world." Booth went to Gaza with a contingency of other activists. However, when the trip ended Booth stayed behind and observed that "the humanitarian crisis was on a scale with Darfur." After she left Gaza through the Egypt border her travels took her to Iran where she visited a Muslim shrine. It can be argued that it was at that shrine in Iran that Lauren Booth had a religious awakening; a spiritual moment. In an interview, Lauren stated how she felt "spiritual joy" while in Iran at the shrine. She found herself saying Allah over and over again. Women walked by her talking of the change she was experiencing.
In October 2010, Booth attended an Islamic Peace and Unity Conference where she stood up in front of the entire audience and said "My name is Lauren Booth and I am a Muslim." Booth to me is just one of the many people who convert to Islam everyday. Islam is the fastest growing religion which a following of approximately 1.7 BILLION people. That is more than the population of China.
It is a bit of a shame that more people can't see what Lauren sees. In 2005, When Lauren was in the West Bank with just a coat on her back after her luggage was seized by Israeli Authorities, an old woman took her by the hand to her home and gave her a hat and scarf. Lauren said it was a moment of utter confusion and warmth--a moment she will never forget. This is what Arabs and Muslims are really like---warm and generous people, not terrorists. Her visits became more frequent to the region and her political ideology began to change; she stopped seeing Palestinians/Arabs as "terrorists".
Lauren was quoted saying how she loved praying and appreciated religion even though she grew up with a Jewish mother who did not raise Lauren as a Jew(Lauren had a very secular upbringing). Lauren's father who is more accepting of Cherie, Lauren's half sister was an alcoholic so for Lauren she now believes it's better that she does not put that stuff into her body (its against the religion to drink alcohol).
Lauren's appreciation for Islam also stemmed from her experiences with Muslim women. She saw how their modesty was unique and inspiring. From a westernized English woman's eyes seeing women in long skirts and hijabs, Lauren did not really understand it at first because in London she valued her hair and her body. In western society, sex sells so a woman's body was normal to be on display.
Back to when Lauren was at the shrine in Iran...she worried for a while as she sat there if she was ready to convert and how would people react or if she would have the time to devote to learning about Islam. Well, in my opinion religion takes a lifetime to understand and I think she is doing a fantastic job as is. She reads the Quran and was asked how far along she was..at that point she had already read 100 pages. Lauren Booth is an inspiration to me. She drastically changed her life and I think she is a better person for it.
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