BBC takes notice of criticism, for once. Reverts to common English usage.

This is a screenshot which somebody with more foresight than I took of the lead paragraphs of a BBC website article last week.

And more than a few picked up on the terms ‘reverts’ and its meaning in Islamic theology instead of the more normal English word converts.

The Telegraph

The BBC has been accused of parroting “Islamist propaganda” after describing Muslim converts as “reverts”.

The controversial term was used throughout an article about Eid – the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan – published by BBC News on Friday.

The term “revert” is used by some to back claims that Muslim converts are merely returning to the faith all humans are born into before being corrupted by Christianity, other religions or atheism.

But it is not used by all Muslims and is especially associated with Islamist fundamentalism.

Tom Tugendhat the MP for Tonbridge

Calling converts ‘reverts’ is ideology not fact. It’s claiming we’re all ‘originally’ Muslim and those who convert are rediscovering their faith. That’s Islamist propaganda and has no place on the BBC.

The Spectator

‘Revert’ as a noun rather than a verb sounds like one of those Victorian terms that went out of fashion in the 1960s and is now considered a slur. However, this was the term that the BBC website felt was appropriate to describe people who had converted to Islam, in an article published on Friday, before hurriedly amending it on Saturday morning.

…this is the term used by some converts to Islam to describe their status within their new faith, based on the theological principle of fitra; the innate predisposition within all humans toward recognising the oneness of God. By this way of thinking, one does not become a Muslim, one ‘reverts’ to one’s true natural state.

Nevertheless, it is not a term by any means in universal use.

And as the Spectator mentioned, the BBC quietly revised the article, other than when directly quoting the young woman interviewed.

I do hope the BBC is taking notice of all the criticism they are receiving. However I fear they are oblivious due to the arrogance and superior attitude of senior staff.