Blazingcatfur

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.

Is it time to call for a new crusade?

Not long ago, merely uttering the word “crusade” in connection with Islam was enough to provoke outrage. When George W. Bush casually referred to the coming war on terrorism as a “crusade” in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the backlash was swift enough that the administration distanced itself from the word. Considering the countless apologies, condemnations, and mea culpas concerning the crusades that Westerners have been subjected to ever since, one might have assumed that “crusade” had been permanently banished from public discourse.