According to figures released by the Ministry of Justice, one in five Muslim prisoners in England and Wales are now white, compared with around 6% of Muslims as a whole. At first glance, that number may look relatively benign: men finding faith and perhaps a sense of purpose behind bars. But the truth is much darker.
During my 16 years in prison, I saw Islamist groups offer frightened and susceptible prisoners protection, status and belonging — sometimes backed by intimidation — in exchange for conversion. And as the number of Muslim people in British prisons grows, accounting for nearly a fifth of all prisoners, vulnerable people on hostile wings increasingly find themselves joining strong groups not as a theological decision but rather as a survival strategy.
