The number of converts to Islam has dramatically increased after the Paris attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly.

According to reports in IINA, a surge in the number of people converting to Islam reached 40 in January 2015 compared to 22 certificates granted “Conversion to Islam Certificates” in January 2014, reported the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Following the attack in Paris, Muslims may find themselves even more isolated and feared by their fellow citizens and were also apprehensive that the incident would once again give rise to an atmosphere of Islamophobia in the country.

But, quite the opposite had happened, there was an unexpected increase in sales of copies of the Holy Qur’an over the weeks that followed the attack and there was unpredicted increase in conversions to Islam in France, confirmed a RTL Radio confirmed, based on its own sources.

An increase in number of converts to Islam is also observed in Mosques of major cities of France.

According to a radio report, there is an increase of 20 percent in number of Muslim converts in Lyon and Strasbourg, in comparison to the previous year.

“The confusion between terrorism and Islam after Charlie Hebdo incident has prompted me to convert to this religion to show that Islam is not a religion of such atrocities,” young French who converted to Islam was quoted as saying:

As per an official at the Paris Mosque, the converts to Islam represented people from all walks of life, including principals, doctors, teachers and policemen etc.