BRUSSELS, February 20, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – For Belgian Jerome Francois, reverting to Islam was much deeper than just getting married to a Moroccan Muslim he fell in love with, for he found his destination after much-soul searching.

"It is a religion without an intermediary," Francois told IslamOnline.net on Monday, February 20.

"I was seeking spiritual fulfillment in my odyssey to find Islam," added the 27-year-old Belgian, who reverted to Islam seven years ago.

"I had a natural affinity for Islam and my faith has completed when I testified that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His messenger."

Francois Clarinval, 47, experienced a dramatic turnabout when he reverted to Islam.

"I grew up as a Catholic and became an activist in the Communist party after graduation and turned atheist shortly afterwards," he told IOL.

"Now I lead a happy life with my Muslim Somali wife and have a cute daughter. I felt like home when I reverted to Islam."

Belgian newspaper Le Soir said in its February 18 edition that 40,000 Belgians reverted to Islam, the largest reversion rate in Europe.

The figure was alarming for the rightists, who blamed mixed marriages for the rising phenomenon.

Belgian Muslims are estimated at 450,000 – out of a 10-million-population – about half of them are from Moroccan origins, while 120,000 have Turkish backgrounds.

"I felt like home when I reverted to Islam," says Clarinval.

But many reverts decry media stereotyping.

"Media outlets attribute high reversion rates to mixed marriages, which is absolutely misleading," said Francois.

"Their coverage of reversion cases is usually highly selective," he said.

"Media is making much fuss about a hijab-clad girl or Abdullah Bastin as an example for all reverts, which is not true," Francois explained, referring to Jean Francois Bastin, who reverted to Islam and grew a long reddish beard.

Bastin is depicted by the media as a hardliner and a model for all Belgians who reverted to Islam.

Reverts have taken center stage after one of the dailies had published Muriel Degauque, the 38-year-old Belgian Muslim woman who blew herself up along with her husband in a US convoy in Baghdad.

Belgians reverting to Islam, however, are not a novelty in the country and the government has reached out to them as part of its Muslim minority.

In 1991, authorities appointed Dr. Yassin Beyens (formerly Didier Beyens) as the chairman of the first interim Muslim Council in the country.

Islam was recognized in Belgium in 1974 but only in 1998 the Muslim minority elected a permanent general council.

Several political activists of Muslim origin have managed to sit in the Federal Parliament and provincial parliaments as well as municipalities.

In 2003, Anissa Temsamani, an Arab woman of Moroccan origin, was sworn in by King Albert II as Junior Minister for Labor Organization and Work Satisfaction.