White British inmates have allegedly been forced to convert to Islam by organised Muslim gangs operating inside the nation’s prisons, prompting calls for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to investigate a surge in conversions.
The demand for an inquiry follows data showing that one in five Muslims in British prisons are white, compared with 5.8% in the general population. The number of Muslim inmates in England and Wales has also increased, rising from 14,037 in 2022 to 16,051 as of June 30, 2025, a staggering increase of 14%.
“The percentage of Muslims who are white in our prisons is so vastly higher than in the general population it raises serious questions,” Nick Timothy, the Shadow Justice Secretary said. “We know that experts have warned repeatedly about forced conversions taking place behind bars, driven by Islamic gangs.”
Fears over Muslim gang conversions have also been raised by the government’s anti-terror chief Jonathan Hall. Hall said he found evidence of Islamists serving as “self-styled emirs” controlling prisons through “leadership and recruitment.”
Hall pointed to Usman Khan, who killed two students in an attack at London Bridge in 2019, as an example of an inmate who had threatened other prisoners to convert while behind bars between 2010 and 2018.
Another review, conducted by Government adviser Colin Bloom, also highlighted concerns over coercion and protection within prisons. Bloom wrote that prisoners who did not identify as Muslim could be “denied ‘protection’ from the dominant Muslim gang” or face violence.
He also wrote that Muslim gangs regularly used the phrase “convert or get hurt” and that “copies of the Quran would be left on the beds of new prisoners.”
The figures and warnings have intensified calls for the MoJ to examine whether vulnerable prisoners are being pressured into changing their religion as a means of gaining protection or belonging within prison gangs.
