Britain’s best and brightest Islamic talent came together in Leicester for the 2nd National Dawah Convention – an event dedicated to strengthening efforts to inspire more people to embrace Islam.
Organised by the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA), the convention brought together Muslim organisations from across the UK to network, share knowledge and strategise on how to spread Islam effectively, both in Britain and around the world.
The event featured more than 100 organisations, with stalls showcasing their work and discussions exploring effective dawah methods and initiatives to help new Muslims build their Islamic lives.
The convention also hosted numerous seminars and discussions throughout the day, featuring expert panellists. Prominent attendees included Sheikh Abdurraheem Green, Dr Wajid Akhtar of the Muslim Council of Britain, YouTuber Korra The Taymi, Kerry Manning of the Convert Muslim Foundation and Muhammad Jalal, host of the Thinking Muslim podcast.
Speaking to 5Pillars, Brother Dowie, an English convert to Islam known for debunking far-right and Islamophobic views online, explained why the convention is an important annual fixture.
“It is so important that we get together. Physically, not just online. We are still human beings, and social media is a strange place. It amplifies the most extreme opinions of everyone. We can swap ideas while we are here and make sure that we coordinate our efforts to make a bigger impact going forward.”
Addressing the audience, iERA CEO Subboor Ahmed announced a substantial increase in the number of dawah conversations recorded by the organisation since it expanded its efforts internationally.
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At the 2025 convention, Ahmed announced iERA’s ambitious mission to facilitate one million conversions to Islam every year globally by 2030.
Speaking at Saturday’s convention, Ahmed said that between 2025 and 2026, his organisation had facilitated more than 250,000 conversations, claiming that his team was well on its way towards achieving its 2030 target.
Islam – the world’s fastest-growing major religion
Islam is the world’s fastest-growing major religion, according to a major global study published by the Pew Research Center in 2025. Its findings show that the worldwide Muslim population increased by 347 million between 2010 and 2020, reaching approximately two billion people – an increase of 21%, faster than any other major religious group.
Muslims now account for 25.6% of the world’s population, up from 23.9% a decade earlier, steadily narrowing the numerical gap with Christianity, which remains the world’s largest religion. Some commentators have suggested that Islam may already have overtaken Christianity, although this is not supported by the latest widely cited global population estimates.
Researchers attribute much of Islam’s growth to the comparatively young age of Muslim populations and higher fertility rates, rather than mass conversion alone. However, 5Pillars has previously reported on Muslim dawah activism in the UK, with activists claiming that conversions to Islam have become increasingly common and that the number of people taking their shahada has risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic and the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Since its formation, iERA has established itself as one of Britain’s leading Muslim dawah organisations, expanding its work to locations across the world. Organisers told 5Pillars that they currently had new projects planned in parts of Africa, including Malawi and Rwanda, as well as Mexico, where they said there had been encouraging levels of local interest in learning about and embracing Islam.
However, efforts to support local British Muslim initiatives and encourage more people to embrace Islam remain ongoing.
The largely underreported phenomenon of British people converting to Islam is now being studied through a new initiative aimed at better understanding and supporting the country’s growing convert community.
The Great British Convert Study has gathered information from thousands of converts, documenting their experiences and identifying their needs.
Kerry Manning of the Convert Muslim Foundation told 5Pillars: “We have been involved in the Great British Convert Study, which is being talked about at this conference, just so we have a better idea of how to quantify what the need is. We know anecdotally what the demand is on the ground, and already we can see that the number of conversions in the UK is increasing exponentially. What Convert Muslim Foundation is trying to do is build a strategy to deal with that. We want to make sure that all Muslims have a place to go. There is lots of great grassroots work going on out there, and we are trying to advocate for them.”
Rising Islamophobic hate
Despite these positive developments, racism, hatred and far-right propaganda continue to present obstacles to the dawah movement, as Muslim activists work to combat widespread anti-Muslim stereotypes and misinformation circulated online and in the media.
5Pillars asked several convention participants how they believed the growing influence of the far-right could best be challenged.
Kerry Manning said: “I would say to someone who hates Islam, talk to a Muslim. Have a conversation. I’m always happy to have a conversation about my conversion to Islam. Talking about my experience and how I’ve grown in confidence may build better understanding. Women are not oppressed by Islam, there are many safeguards in place, such as checks done during a shahada with an Imam. No one is allowed to be forced into Islam.”
Brother Dowie also encouraged greater dialogue with those sceptical of Islam.
“I think the right way to break down those barriers is to just go and talk to them. Go to where they are and just have those conversations. What alternative is there if we don’t talk to them? What do we have to lose? Especially if they don’t like us already anyway. We hope that everyone becomes Muslim, obviously, but Allah guides whom He wills. If we can get some of them to move into a more neutral position so they can stop seeing Islam as a threat or blaming Muslims for everything, then at least we can reduce the toxic environment that the far-right thrive in.”
Salahuddin Patel, iERA’s global campaigns manager, told 5Pillars that, regardless of the hostility they face, the organisation remains dedicated to its mission.
“There is a lot of anti-Muslim rhetoric now. Some Muslims may be scared, but we cannot allow them to define us and our beliefs. Instead, we must use this as an opportunity to showcase our beliefs and the beauty of Islam. Allah mentions in the Qur’an that: ‘They wish to extinguish Allah’s light with their mouths, but Allah will [certainly] perfect His light, even to the dismay of the disbelievers.’ So these efforts are a great opportunity because people really want to learn more about Islam.”
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hostility are becoming an increasingly serious problem in Britain. The latest Home Office figures show a 15% increase in police-recorded religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in England and Wales in the year ending March 2026, reaching 5,132 offences.
However, 5Pillars also met several English converts who had previously followed far-right nationalist ideologies before embracing Islam. Their stories offer a reminder of the potential for dawah to challenge prejudice, combat ignorance and encourage people to move away from ideologies rooted in hatred and division.
