As a child, I always had access to a short-wave radio. I used to listen to the BBC World Service about the Middle East. I also loved the music from that part of the world, and I probably was listening to the Quran being recited but did not know it at the time.
As I grew older, I continued to listen to the BBC World Service. Back then, they had a program called Words of Faith in which they had a five- to an eight-minute talk given by a different religious speaker each day of the week representing all the major religions in the United Kingdom. Out of all the speakers, the Muslims were the ones I loved listening to most.
Every time the Muslim representative spoke, I wanted to find out more about Islam. My impression of the religion was that the person who practices Islam is a happy person, not like the mean people portrayed by the American media. I just refused to believe people that loved Allah so much could be like the people portrayed by the media. Because I come from a Jewish background, the thing that united me with Islam was the belief that Allah had no partners.
An important time in my life came when I met a real Muslim but did not know it yet. I was doing contracting computer programming work in New York State when I had a strong urge to visit the United Kingdom.
[…]
Sometime after I started working at LogoTech, I found out that my supervisor, Anis Karim, was Muslim. I asked him if he knew how I could get a copy of the Quran. To my surprise, he obtained a copy of the Quran for me within a few days. […] The next day, while eating breakfast, I started to read. Later I found out that “read” is what Allah had the Angel Gabriel instruct our beloved Prophet to do, even though he could not read or write!
Well, words can’t describe how I felt when I read just that small portion of the world’s most holy book. It took only 10 pages, when, at that point, I told myself that this religion was for me. This occurred around 1990. The more I read, the more I wanted to know, and I loved what I was reading.
At the time, I did not know anything about how to pray or any of the details of Islam. If Anis had invited me to go to the masjid [mosque] in London, I would have gone with him. […] At the time, I knew that Muslims prayed several times a day, and so I started to do so at night before I went to bed and in the morning when I woke up.
[…]
[…] My sister asked me if I could help her find Islamic jewelry as a gift. At that time I had no idea that there were Muslims in Huntsville.
Then Allah put things into place for me. I remembered that there was a shop called Crescent Imports, which I thought was run by Muslims. It was not. It was run by the group called Nation of Islam. […]
I do thank Allah for having them direct me to the masjid. […]I spoke to the imam, and he invited me to perform salat (Prayer) with the Muslim brothers. This was a turning point in my life. I loved it and started to visit the masjid once a week at night. Then I started to visit it several times a week at night. The urge to come more times was stronger and I now perform most of my prayers at the masjid, except `Asr and Maghrib prayers when I am at work.
In November of 1996, I publicly made Shahadah. At work, I pray Zhuhr and Asr by myself or with other Muslim brothers in a small mosque in my workplace. I proudly carry my prayer rug in the hallways at my work in an attempt to get people to ask me what they are. When they do ask me about it, I tell them that I am Muslim and the mats are what I use to pray on. Also, my work area, including my computer, is decorated with Islamic artwork. My background on my computer is usually the Kaaba or our masjid.
Now that I am a Muslim, there is no turning back to disbelief!
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Despite the considerable amount of anti-Islamic movements and propaganda in the world, the number of those who convert to Islam and accept it as a way of life is increasing. The question is, therefore, why would people want to become Muslims, while they know that they might go through some difficulties and challenges? In what follows, we will try to mention some of the main reasons that make people accept Islam as the best available lifestyle.
In a world that media and politics are standing against a specific religion, many people may blindly accept what the media says. But seeing the amount of budget, human and natural resources that are being spent to conceal a specific religion from the world will give thoughtful people more reason to study and learn about this religion. As soon as they read the Quran in full, not only some chosen parts of it, they will understand the divine spirit of the Quran and its efficacy for human beings.
Muslims are living all around the world, and a Hijabi girl can be “the girl next door” to any non-Muslim. Seeing the routine life of Muslim families proves that what the media says about Islam and Muslims is far from the truth. When the true reality of Islam is uncovered to a person, a religion that leads its followers toward a better and more prosperous life, one surely finds enough reason to convert to Islam and follow its path.
Many people who were looking for the most applicable methods in handling social, cultural, or economic issues, found out that the strategies Islam provides for every aspect of human life are so complete that it leaves no room for further questions and ambiguities.
For example, the rulings of Islam regarding business, economy, management, charity, national or international communication, etc. can answer all the needs of anyone who expects growth and perfection.
Another essential aspect of Islam that can attract people and lead them to convert to Islam is the ethical orders that Islam provides in the individual, social, environmental, and cultural life of human beings. No one can morally or ethically deny these recommendations and descriptions of the righteous servants of Allah Almighty. Every sane person understands the beauty of a good character defined by Allah (SWT) and realizes how practical is this description for the One who is willing to take it as a model:
“The servants of the All-beneficent are those who walk humbly on the earth, and when the ignorant address them, say, ‘Peace!’ Those who spend the night for their Lord, prostrating and standing [in worship]... Those who are neither wasteful nor tightfisted when spending, but balanced between these [two extremes]. Those who do not invoke another deity besides Allah, and do not kill a soul [whose life] Allah has made inviolable, except with due cause, and do not commit fornication. (Whoever does that shall encounter its retribution … Those who do not give false testimony, and when they come upon frivolity, pass by with dignity.” (25: 63 -72)
Another significant aspect that motivates many people to convert to Islam is the miracle of the Quran. The Quran, as a book revealed about 1400 years ago, presents many incredible scientific facts. These include facts about human beings, the universe, galaxies, and black holes, animals, psychology, and all the other aspects of knowledge and wisdom, some of which have not yet been discovered, that makes its readers prostrate for the One who revealed this miraculous book. [1]
According to many of its rules and regulations, Islam has proven to be a dynamic religion. Although the pillars of Islam are not to be changed, rulings of Islam are designed in a way to help humanity reach perfection by dominating and controlling all the newly invented technologies and sciences.
Islam does not allow a person to become the slave of changes and improvements in the society but provides him/her with guidelines to help the perfection of humanity using both faith and tools.
Clear examples of the dynamic jurisprudence in Islam can be seen in the way Muslims avoid corrupt music, games, movies, etc. While at the same time, they use these tools in the right way to help human growth and perfection.
In the age of technology, life is so fast, and human beings are busy with making money, surviving, and getting by their life that they hardly find some time for self-development. However, Islam puts the individual experience of human and his/her peace of mind in priority. The relationship that Islam describes between the servant and Allah Almighty is the One that influences all the dimensions of human life.
Allah Almighty teaches man to rely on Him in every single step that we take. He wants His servants to stay by His side as “Whoever takes for his guardians Allah, His Apostle and the faithful [should know that] the confederates of Allah are indeed the victorious.” (5:56)
The fact that staying on Allah Almighty’s side can bring absolute success and victory for the human being is so empowering that will make them not to accept any oppression. Staying by His side and relying on Him can enrich human beings and making them a self-built, confident, humble, and powerful individual.
“… Whoever is wary of Allah, He shall make for him a way out [of the adversities of the world and the Hereafter] and provide for him from whence he does not count upon. And whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him. Indeed Allah carries through His commands. Certainly, Allah has ordained a measure [and extent] for everything.” (65: 2-3)
In sum, the lifestyle provided by Allah Almighty is multi-dimensional and, therefore, can answer all the needs of human beings. The ways of Allah in ruling the world are very different from those of Imperialist and capitalist powers. That is why people who start to learn about Islam and study various aspects of the Islamic lifestyle become motivated to convert to Islam and choose it as their lifestyle.
A real believer can find ways that are unknown to others only by obeying Allah (SWT); ways that no other “ism” can provide its followers: “As for those who strive in Us, We shall surely guide them in Our ways, and Allah is indeed with the virtuous.” (29: 69)
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I feel honored to be a Muslim... And I feel that way for many reasons. There are many norms in the society I live that are opposite to what it is to be a Muslim. And when I first came to this way of life, I didn’t know how well I would fair with it. […]
Having spent a large portion of my short life not being a Muslim, I know the darkness that God speaks of in the Quran. I remember what it was like when Allah opened my eyes and shined a light where the darkness had once been. At the beginning of my life, I had no definite form of absolute guidance.
The simplest aspects of creation would boggle my mind. I was totally oblivious to the miracles God put in nature. One time, in particular, I recall learning about evaporation in science class. I was unable to comprehend it. Not the how, but the reason it happened.
I understood the idea of the water cycle and its importance for life, but what would make the water essentially disappear and float back up to the sky?
When viewing this question, without knowing God, my mind ran into a mental block at which point I could not come up with the answer. Boggled by the thought, I merely shrugged my shoulders and threw it to the back of my mind.
When looking at the human body, and how it’s made largely of water, or looking at the universe and trying to comprehend what was beyond it. I would be faced with the mental barricade of not being able to comprehend the reason for its creation.
Time and time again scientists could explain the how, but never the why. They could explain purpose within the mechanics of creation, but they could never explain the purpose of the mechanics itself. What caused the mechanics? What caused nature to have laws?
Having been brought up in a non-practicing Christian family, I had a general understanding of the principles of Christianity. […] My problem with Christianity was the dogma, and more specifically the beliefs about God. The issue of a “Triune” God that is essentially three different individuals that all unite to take on the role of the “One” God. I know that is not how the Doctrine of Trinity is officially promoted, and any Bible-thumping Christian would probably accuse me of not understanding the Doctrine, but that’s the reality that I saw in it
[…] Around that time, I unofficially rejected Christianity. I became a Christian / Atheist / Agnostic. I began to live life trying to come to terms with my surroundings and myself. Not knowing of a greater purpose, I saw no problem in taking part in destructive activities of any kind; on the condition, I would receive some sort of satisfaction from it.
[…] I began to turn to the common reality escape, namely drugs and alcohol. At first, using them as a social tool, and eventually using them habitually as a sedative. If people ever told me I should calm down, I would tell them I could stop if I had a reason, but I had no reason. […] But eventually, I started to feel a consciousness within me looking for some sort of console. Although I was lost and in the dark, since I never saw the light, I didn’t know the difference between the two. I began to think of “the bigger picture.”
I began to think about death. I tried to comprehend the concept of nothingness, and as many times before in my life, when trying to contemplate the purpose, my mind drew blanks. Until one night, while I lay on my bed, deep in thought, I turned my face to the sky, and I said: “God, if you’re real, and You exist, please help me!”
I went to sleep that night never really thinking twice about it. Then on 9/11, I watched the uncanny events unfold. I was confused about the whole situation, why it happened, what exactly happened, and how they knew who did it almost immediately. For the first time there was meaning being applied to foreign terms that I had heard, but never knew anything about, namely Islam.
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