The Tablet Blog

Why young black men are ditching Christianity for Islam

For some years now, there has been a noticeable increase in young black people, particularly men, moving across from mere fledgling Christian involvement to full immersion into Islam.

Last week Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs (MECA) organised a seminar to look at this phenomenon. Richard Reddie, one of the speakers, who has written a book on the radicalisation of British African and Caribbean youths, argued that the drift that we're now seeing from Christianity to Islam is not new. In the 1960s, when the American Civil Rights movement and the emergence of Malcom X were making an impact on Britain, there were a few notable converts. Both the situation of the 1960s and today's are linked to identity issues. His conclusion is that an increasing number of young black people are saying they have not found Christianity helpful in their search for identity in Britain. The Christianity that they or their parents participate in is Europeanised, both spiritually and culturally.

Even in black Churches, where the choir, pastor and 99 percent of the congregation are black, the contours of the Christianity practised are largely European. Jesus is depicted as white, blond and blue-eyed. All the biblical characters are portrayed as European. The two largest black Churches in Britain, the New Testament Church of God and the Church of Prophecy, are offshoots of predominantly white American Pentecostal churches. All this provides a highly confusing message.

Churches need to work deliberately and intentionally to help young black people cement their identity through emphasising the place of the Church in Africa. The African Heritage Bible, which features images of black people in a biblical context, is a good example of this. They need to build an African narrative around their experiences of for example the trans-Atlantic slave trade just as Old Testament Jews did with the Exodus.

Otherwise, as Mr Reddie points out, when black young people meet with an overtly evangelical Islam, the Islamic preachers are better equipped than their Christian equivalents to explain their faith and provide a sense of identity. They are far more zealous and they have a better narrative, one that seeks to include black people in it, and that takes them back to Africa. Their narrative is that before the Europeans came to Africa, Islam was there. They will reel off names of Islamic 'champions'. Malcolm X is tall, powerful and stands up for black people. The preacher will challenge them to find a Christian like that. Martin Luther King isn't even mentioned!

There are plenty of anecdotes about ideological Muslim preachers who focus on young black men in prison. Young offenders are in a vulnerable state and away from their communities. The preachers convince them that the reason they are there is because the system criminalises black people. This is easy to believe when young black men from poor backgrounds are more likely to be stopped and searched than young white men from poor backgrounds and also more likely to be handed a custodial sentence.

To tackle the spread of Islamic extremism within prisons, the preaching of the Gospel therefore needs to be less otherworldly, less neutral, and more 'this worldly', more focused on the oppressed. This used to be the attraction of evangelical Christianity. But now, Christianity has become too middle-class, too comfortable with itself. Islam provides clearer certainties.

The Church as a whole has a responsibility to help people get out of the poverty trap - that would address a lot of issues. It also needs to take seriously black men's need to feel affirmed in their masculine identity and recognise how the feminisation of Church has long been driving men away.

Dr Joe Aldred is a bishop in the Church of God of Prophecy and Secretary for Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs (MECA) at Churches Together in England

'Islam provides clearer certainties.' But are these certainties that celebrate masculinity provided in such a manner that women are deemed subservient to males? If that condition is necessary to enforce males' sense of comfort with religion, then I sincerely hope that Christianity NEVER provides that condition.

I'm not sure I agree that the feminisation of the Church has gone too far! A conscious effort on the part of every minister to invite and involve all-comers in the life and worship of the parish can be very affirming. At another level entirely, there were in days gone by, holy and effective Archbishops of Canterbury appointed who had no natural connection with England: Augustine, Theodore, Lanfranc, Anselm. Today an African or Caribbean bishop would witness to the Church Universal in England as Francis does in Rome. Many African priests have studied here and know something of the country and the church.

Dr. Alfred, With all due respect, Black men (and others) don't just leave the church for identity. Many leave for moral and spiritual fulfillment ... religious reasons. I became a Muslim while trying to be a better Christian. I consulted with my pastors on many questions that I had and found that they either didn't have a plausible answer or didn't know. As a result I continued reading and studying all of the Bible, and found that many times some of these pastors were misinterpreting Scripture. I was on my way to becoming a pastor (or so I thought). Many pastors are pontificators of religious dogma rather than educators of the faith, and do not provide any real answers, and do not encourage critical thinking. This actually turns many people off. Further, more important than identity is hundreds of years of persecution that black people and particularly black men have undergone by those claiming to be Christian. Although, that may not be a good reason for criminal behavior, there is some truth behind the abuse of power as it relates to blacks. Please also note, that the main purpose of Muslim chaplains is to aid inmate in transitioning their lives so when they return to society they are transformed into productive citizens. God Bless you.

My understanding is that black Christians date back to the first apostles and followers of Christ whereas the first Muslims emerged more than 500 years later. St Augustine the preeminent theologian and Bishop of Hippo was I believe a black African from Alexandria and a Roman scholar of note before black politics emerged in the West after the collapse of the Roman empire.