The latest discovery from historians shows a truth that nobody in the West would have expected, given history in the entirety of the 20th century: it seems that at some point, for famed World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Islam was a real possibility.
News of the possibility of Winston Churchill's Islam conversion has shocked the Western world, after a researcher from the University of Cambridge discovered that the politician famous for his one-liners was fascinated with Muslim culture, and had to be convinced by a third party not to convert to the religion.
According to RT News, it seems that Warren Dockter, a historian at Cambridge University, first made the Winston Churchill Islam discovery as he was digging up things for his book, entitled "Winston Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle East."
The finding regarding Winston Churchill's Islam interest was discovered in a letter dated 1907 and written by Lady Gwendoline Bertie, the woman who would go on to become Churchill's sister-in-law after marrying his brother Jack, according to The Washington Post. In it, she showed concern over Winston's fascination with Oriental culture and religion.
"Please don't become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to Orientalize," said Lady Gwendoline Bertie in her letter, according to The Daily Mail. She goes on to say that she knows he has "Pasha-like tendencies," Pasha-like tendencies, "If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don't you know what I mean, do fight against it."
The time, 1907, was seeing the last few years of the Ottoman Empire, and Churchill greatly admired the military power and prowess of its centuries-long expansion process.
However, Lady Gwendoline's concerns may have been unfounded: Dr. Dockter told The Independent that Winston Churchill's Islam conversion was never a true possibility, as the politician just romanticized the idea of the Beduin lifestyle but being widely ignorant about the details, not fully comprehending their culture - there are even records of Churchill asking in the 20s what was the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims.