Yahya Birt is Research Director at the Ayaan Institute in London and is a community historian who writes about the history of Islam in Britain. He latest book is The Collected Poems of Abdullah Quilliam.
Although conversion to Islam in Britain has persisted for centuries, we rarely talk about its three waves: during the age of empire, the age of counter-culture and post-imperialism, and the established age of Islam in Britain caused by migration.
King Charles III's admiration for Islam has excited the UK's Muslim community. With the ascension of a Muslim-friendly king, Yahya Birt asks us to consider the monarchy's violent history of empire and current soft power.
