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My conversion to Islam has been intellectual and emotional. My parents have
both been educated at the university-level. My mother is a Christian convert
(she was atheist), and my father has personal beliefs. My family is rather rich.
Ever since I was very young, I've been interested by political questions. I
enjoyed reading history books, although I was confused a little bit between
military history and politics. I called myself a communist, but today I wouldn't
say I knew what it means. Over time, I learned real politics and sociology, but
when the communist bloc fell, I admitted my error and was no longer a fan of the
communist states. I became agnostic, and thought that all human beings are
condemned to egotism and to ignorance of some questions, like the existence of
God. I learned philosophy. I wanted to avoid doing the same mistakes as in the
past, and so I refused all dogmas. At this time occured the separation of my
parents, and also other personal problems. To forget all this, I spent a lot of
time in laughing with (fake) friends, drinking, and then smoking cigarettes,
then hash. I sometimes took hard drugs (heroin, LSD, and some other poisons).
Despite this, I passed my baccalaureat (this is an exam that ends four years of
college and gives the right to continue graduate level study at the university).
By chance, I had to go at the army (we do not have the choice in the country I
live in). The strict rules I could not avoid there were a very good thing for
me; also, I was tired enough to enjoy simple things as eating and sleeping.
Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), my mentality changed.
Back in civil society, I spent one more dark year: I always had the
temptation of my bad habits, and I felt that life was very superficial after the
big efforts and the friendship of the army. I began feeling the necessity of
something else in my life. Then one of my sisters, back from a journey to Syria,
gave me a book. This book, written in my language, is a gift she received there.
Its author, who had titled it "The Bible, Quran and Science", wanted
to show that there are in the Quran some things that were simply impossible for
a human being to know at the time the Quran was revealed. Conclusion: the
authenticity of the Quran is proved, scientifically proved. The first thing I
thought after having read the book was: "Oh! It would be super!" -- I
was ready for a change in my way of life.
I bought a translation of the Quran to compare. Before having entirely read
it, I had become a Muslim, alhamdulillah. As you can see, a psychologist
wouldn't have any problem to explain what he would call my choice. For me, all
things come from God and He had written this for me, He had chosen these means
to make me accept Islam. Alhamdulillah! What no psychologist can see is what
happens in my heart when I read the Quran: faith has little to do with what one
feels in front of a scientific demonstration!
About the author:
Sir Abdullah Archibald Hamilton
Bart, formerly Sir Charles Edward Archibald Watkins Hamilton, embraced Islam on
20th December 1923. A well-known English statesman, fifth baronet of the first
(1770) and third baronet of the second creation (1819) Sir Abdullah was born on
10th December 1876. He was a Lieutinent in the Royal Defence Corp. and was also
the President of the Selsy Conservative Association.
Since arriving at an age of discretion, the beauty and the
simple purity of Islam have always appealed to me. I could never, though born
and brought up as a Christian, believe in the dogmatic aspect of the Church, and
have always placed reason and commonsense above blind faith.
As the time progressed, I wished to be at peace with my Creator, and I found
that both the Church of Rome and the Church of England were of no real use to
me.
In becoming a Muslim I have merely obeyed the dictates of my conscience, and
have since felt a better and a truer man.
There is no religion that is so maligned by the ignorant and the biased as is
Islam; yet if people only knew, it is the religion of strong for the weak, the
rich for the poor. Humanity is divided into three classes. First, those on whom
God has, out of His bounty, bestowed possessions and wealth; secondly, those who
have to work to earn their living; and lastly, the great army of the unemployed,
or those who have fallen by the wayside through no fault of their own.
Again Islam recognizes genius and individuality. It is constructive and not
destructive. For example, if a landowner who is rich and is not in need of
cultivating his land refrains from doing so for some time, his property ipso
facto becomes public property, and according to Islam Law, passes into the
hands of the first person who cultivates it.
Islam strictly forbids its adherents to gamble or to indulge in any games of
chance. It prohibits all alcoholic drinks and interdicts usury, which alone has
caused enough sorrow and suffering to mankind. Thus, in Islam, none can take a
mean advantage of another who is less fortunate.
We neither believe in fatalism nor in predestination, but only in
pre-measurement; that is to say the fixity of the laws and the intelligence to
follow them.
To us, Faith without Action is a dead-letter; for in itself it is
insufficient unless we live up to it. We believe in our own personal
accountability for our actions in this life and the Hereafter. We must carry our
own cross and none can atone for another's sin.
Islam teaches the inherent sinlessness of man. It teaches that man and woman
come from the same essence, possess the same soul, and have been equipped with
equal capabilities for intellectual, spiritual and moral attainment.
I do not think I need say much about the Universal Brotherhood of man in
Islam. It is a recognized fact. Lord and vassal, rich and poor, are all like. I
have always found that my brother Muslims have been the soul of honour and that
I could believe their word. They have always treated me justly, as a man and a
brother, and have extended to me the greatest hospitality, and I have always
felt at home with them.
In conclusion, I would like to say that whereas Islam guides humanity in the
daily workaday life, the present-day so-called Christianity, indirectly in
theory and invariably in practice, teaches its followers, it would seem, to pray
to God on Sundays and to prey on His creatures for the rest of the week.
From "Islam, Our Choice"
About the Author:
Sir Jalaludding Lauder Brunton
was educated at Oxford University. He was an English Baronet and a public man of
wide repute.
I am deeply grateful for this opportunity of saying a few
words as to why I embraced Islam. I was reared under the influence of Christian
parents. At an early age I became interested in theology. I associated myself
with the Church of England, and took an interest in Mission work without an
actual active part in it. Some years ago I gave my attention to the doctrine of
"Eternal Torment" of all mankind except a few elect. It became so
abhorrent to me that I almost became a sceptic. I reasoned that, a God that
would use His power to create human beings whom he foreknew and predestinated
should be Eternally Tormented, could be neither wise, just, nor loving. His
standard would be lower than that of many men. I continued, however, to believe
in the existence of God, but was not willing to accept the commonly understood
teachings of God's revelation of Himself to men. I then turned my attention to
the investigation of other religions, only to feel myself baffled.
An earnest desire to worship and serve the True God grew in me. The creeds of
Christianity claim to be founded on the Bible, but I found these to be
conflicting. Is it possible that Bible and teaching of Jesus Christ had been
misrepresented? So, I turned my attention again to the Bible and determined to
make a careful study, and I felt that there was something wanting.
I determined to strike out for myself ignoring the creeds of men. I began to
teach that men possessed a "Soul", and an "Unseen Force"
which was immortal, that sins were punished both in this world and in the next,
that God in His Goodness and Mercy was ever ready to forgive our sins if we only
were truly repentant.
Realising the necessity of living up to the Truth and digging deep, so that I
may find the "pearl of great price", I again devoted my time to the
study of Islam. There was something in Islam which appealed to me at this time.
In an obscure and almost unknown corner of the village Ichhra I was devoting my
time and service to God's glory amongst the lowest classes of society with the
earnest desire to uplift them to the knowledge of the True and only god, and to
instil a feeling of brotherhood and cleanliness.
It is not my intention to tell you as to how I laboured amongst these people,
nor what were the sacrifices I had under-taken nor the extreme hardships I had
undergone. I was simply going on with a singleness of purpose to benefit these
classes both physically and morally.
I eventually took up the study of the life of Prophet Muhammad. I knew very
little of what he did, but I knew and felt that the Christians with one voice
condemned the celebrated Prophet of Arabia. I was now determined to look into
the matter without the spectacles of bigotry and malice. After a little time I
found that it was impossible to doubt the earnestness of his search after Truth
and God.
I felt that it is wrong, in the extreme, to condemn this Holy Man after
reading his great achievements for humanity. People who were wild
idol-worshippers, living on crime, filth and nakedness, he taught them how to
dress, filth was replaced by cleanliness, and they acquired personal dignity and
self-respect, hospitality became a religious duty, their idols were destroyed
and they worship the True and only one God. Islam became the most powerful Total
Abstinence Association in the world. And many other good works were accomplished
which are too numerous to be mentioned. In the face of all this and his own
purity of mind, how sad to think that such a Holy Messenger of God should be run
down by the Christians. I became deeply thoughtful, and during my moments of
meditation an Indian gentleman named Mian Amiruddin came on a visit, and
strangely enough it was he who fanned the fire of my life into a flame. I
pondered over the matter a great deal; brought one argument after the other
bearing upon the Christians' present day religion and I concluded in favour of
Islam, feeling convinced of its truth, simplicity, toleration, sincerity and
brotherhood.
I have now but a little time to live upon this earth and I mean to devote my
all to Islam.
From "Islam, Our Choice"
S.S. Lai
My Journey to Islam
The day I write this, I have lived my life knowing what
Islam means for approximately 5 years and 11 months. I reverted to Islam on the
5th October 1991. I believed that every child is born in a pure state and that
only their parents brought them up to the way they think best and the only way
they probably know how.May Allah guides their hearts to Islam.
I came from a Chinese background.
My whole families believed in worshipping the idols and the dead ancestors.
Throughout my childhood I was made to believe that there were many gods, god of
mercy, wealth etc., Every year, I would had high hope and enthusiasm that my
grandfather would bring me to the temple to worship 'our' gods. What drew me to
them as a child was that there were many foods ( I thought the foods would taste
nicer because they had been worship to the great and mighty ones ) and the
'gods' look very mystique. Some of the idols projects a sense of fear, some
beauty and this lists go on and on. On that day, we would burnt paper money and
worship our 'gods' using some incense sticks.We would observe all these in
silence and these brings more impact to my young mind. I used to hope that one
day I would know how to say the words that my grandfather said to the idols and
the little secrets and tricks he used with the 'magic stones'.
At home we have pictures of dead
ancestors . Every fullmoon , I would eagerly ask my grandmother if she would
honor me by throwing the two coins. If the coins both shows the head or tails
then they ( the dead ancestors ) have not finished eating.
I also came from a 'Muslim'
country called Brunei and by the blessings of Allah, I came to a school with the
majority of the students being Muslims. I remembered once a friend brought a
comic book with pictures of the punishment of hell fire. I didn't fully
comprehend them at that time. The only lesson I had at that time was never to
'tear any packages of sweets or crisps, otherwise we would be punished equally
in the hereafter ).
A lesson in geography on why we
could all stand and walk on the surface of the earth and not thrown out into the
dark space started my journey to Islam. I came home feeling confused and asked
my uncle why this is so. My uncle advised me to always asked WHY for everything.
Since that day I had never started asking WHY .
In the year 1988, I won a
scholarship to come to UK to study . This had been my lifelong ambition and I
had worked long and hard for this. My main aim in life up to that point was to
become rich and useful and to make my parents very proud of me. The only way I
know how then was to become a doctor. The helpless feeling I had when I was
forced to sit next to my great grand mother's death bed till her last breath had
never escaped my memory.
I studied A level in girls only
school. All I know about Islam although I had many Muslims friends and live in a
Muslim country then, Muslims do not eat pork, they fast in Ramadan and they were
the losers. All my experience with Muslims had made me not attracted me to them
although I had a strange feeling at age seven I will become a Muslim just like
my uncle. I had never asked anybody about Islam for fear they will go very
excited and this always frightened me and made me very shy.
In that college, one night I
dreamt I heard a loud Adhan. I walked towards it and stood infant of a big gate
with Arabic writing on it. I didn't know what it meant for I knew not Arabic
writings then. I felt an immense sense of peace and security. The room was
illuminated with light and I saw white figures praying ( wallahu'alam ). The
feeling I had was greater than I could write or expressed. The next day I forced
myself to asked one of my malaysian Muslim friend. She told me it is 'Hadassah'
from Allah. This first conversation helped me to asked many more questionsthat
had been on my mind for all these years about Islam. I had always been thought
the Muslims are bad people and they always oppressed the non-Muslims etc..,That
year I went back to Brunei, I told my families I want to have a year out for my
mind cannot concentrate on my previous aim. I felt there was something more
important than everything I had worked for all those years.Not surprisingly, I
was not allowed and had to continue in this state of mind. Days and nights I
cried because I can only hear the Adhan echo in my mind up to the point my best
friend thought I was crazy ( I even believed I was ).
My first contact with real
practicing Muslim was my childhood friend. At that point in life she was also
renewing her faith. I learnt a lot from her mostly from her actions. That was
the first time Isaw Islam in action ( people praying etc., ). I tried fasting
then and also attempted to eat only halal food for 2-3 years before my
conversion.
The turning point in my life was
when I was rejected from all the universities to study medicine . I pondered
about the attributes of Allah and promised Allah that should I be accepted to a
medical college, I would believe all that my friends had told me . Allah is ever
listening and everpresence. Miraculously, the next day I was told that despite
their initial rejection, I was accepted. What can I say after that but 'There is
no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the the last prophet of Allah'
Sufyan Gent
It was as if ' The Scales
had lifted from my Eyes'
Courtesy of Saudi Gazette
Now, as a Muslim, I cannot understand the attractions of pubs, discos,
nightclubs, expensive holidays and so on. If you are amongst a community of
believers you derive your pleasure from sitting with them, discussing the
wonders of our creator, or by enjoying with your family and doing things
together, living in a closely knit environment of mutual love and respect.
Non-Muslim households miss these benefits with everyone in the family looking
for their own personal enjoyment. - Sufyan Gent
SUFYAN Gent was born Maurice Alexander Gent; incidentally, the name "comes
from the word Moorish and the moors", who were Arab Muslims. Prior to
embracing Islam, he tried various Christian sects but nothing ever seemed quite
right. Whilst working as a civil servant in London, he met a Muslim lady who
later became his wife. She had been brought up as a Muslim, but was sadly not
practising her religion. Nevertheless, she had enough faith to insist that her
future husband embraced Islam before marrying him. After living several years as
a notional Muslim, not having the slightest idea about praying, fasting or
Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), he attended a Muslim study circle with an idea of
getting an academic knowledge of Islam to impart to his son. On listening to the
obvious, plain and simple truth of Islamic teachings he became fascinated with
the religion. He started to practise and from there took the religion to his
wife. Their life was transformed from weak belief to a life dedicated to
worshipping God alone.
Sufyan has organised several weekend conferences and Islamic exhibitions and
is currently involved with the Islamic Society of Britain.
"Before I became aware of Islam I had a strong belief in God, but I could
not find an exact expression of that belief in any of the churches I attended.
There always seemed to me to be a hypocrisy about church-goers, a
sanctimonious ‘holier than thou’ attitude which contradicted the kind loving
nature that I saw in Jesus. I could never understand why you needed to go
through Jesus or a priest or vicar to get to God. It seemed like taking
insurance through a broker; providing work for someone but not getting anything
extra in return.
I tried to live as I felt a Christian should live; caring for my family,
working hard, trying to be honest, and not interfering with others. Then, in
1977, I met my future wife who was a student in London, where I lived at
that time.
She explained to me the Islamic belief that there is none worthy of worship
but Allah and that all old and new testament Prophets were simply telling the
same simple truth, that there was only one God and that mankind was born to
worship Him. She explained that there was no difference between working and
praying, as everything was an act of worship to be carried out according to
God’s will.
Consequently, I gladly accepted Islam in 1977 and we were married. However,
my lifestyle did not change, I just went on living as I had before the Shahadah,
and this state of affairs continued until 1987. It was then that I started
reading about Islam with a view to trying to teach my son about his religion
before he started school. He was about three years old at the time.
When I began to read I realised how I had not been fulfilling my obligations
to my creator. I thought that by declaring "There is none worthy of worship
but Allah" I had done enough. Very soon I started to realize that I had to
pray, fast, pay Zakat, go on pilgrimage when I could afford it, and become part
of the Muslim community.
So, Alhamdulillah, ("thanks to God"), I started to do these things. It
was, as stated in the holy Qur’an, as if the "Scales were lifted from my
eyes." Now, I long for the time for prayer, I love the month of Ramadhan, I
gladly
pay Zakat, and I completed my Haj in 1992, all thanks to God.
It is difficult not to get bloated with your own importance as a new Muslim.
You get used to being given special treatment by your Muslim brothers, and this
is something we should try and avoid, as there is no difference between the
believers. The devil will try to exploit human weakness and make you think you
are special, and so we must pray to avoid this trap.
I look froward to the time when the Muslim take the message of Islam to the
non-Muslims here. We must lead by example, as we are the best of nations so we
must behave as such.
Through honesty, truthfulness, polite behaviour and caring for all mankind is
how Islam spread in the beginning. We must get out of a getto mentality and we
must also avoid the other extreme of becoming so anglicized that we lose Islam
altogether.
Islamic teachings show us that everything is in balance; we must make our
presence felt by helping to provide a moral lead to society, but at the same
time keep an Islamic identity as opposed to a nationalistic one.
Now, as a Muslim, I cannot understand the attractions of pubs, discos,
nightclubs, expensive holidays and so on. If you are amongst a community of
believers you derive your pleasure from sitting with them, discussing the wonders of our creator, or by enjoying with your family and doing things
together, living in a closely knit environment of mutual love and respect.
Non-Muslim households miss these benefits with everyone in the family looking for their own personal enjoyment. Back to People Who Embraced Islam Stories
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