(Rolf Freiherr (baron) von Ehrenfels is the only son ofProf. Dr.
Baron Christian Ehrenfels, who is known as the founder of Gestalt psychology
all over the world. He belongs to a well-known family. He was only a small
child when he felt a growing concern for the orient and began to study the
Islamic religion. His sister Imma von Rodmesrhofwrites about this inclination
of her brother’s in detail in a book of hers, which was published in Lahore in
1953. At avery young age, Rolf travelled in Turkey, in Albania, inGreece, and
in Yugoslavia, and joined prayers in mosquesalthough he was a Christian.
Eventually, the warm feelingsof closeness that he had been harbouring towards
Islamresulted in his embracing Islam in 1927, from then on hechose the name
’Umar for himself. In 1932 he visited India, and published a book entitled ‘The
Place of Woman in Islam’. When the Germans invaded Austria during the Second
World War, Rolf fled to India. Accepted andsupported by Akbar Haydar, he
carried on anthropological studies in Assam, was appointed as a professor of
anthropology for the University of Madras in 1949, and was awarded with a gold
medal by the ‘Royal Asiatic Society’, which was located in Bengal. His books
were also published in the Urdu language.)
You ask me why I became a
Muslim. In the following lines I shall give an account of the factors that
formed the cause of my becoming a Muslim and realizing that Islam is a true
religion:
1) Islam contains the good
aspects of all the world’s religions known to us. All religions are intended
for men’s living in peace and tranquility. Yet no other religion has managed to
teach it to people as explicitly as Islam does. No other religion has been
successful in imbuing with such deep love towards our Creator and towards
brothers of the same faith.
2) Islam enjoins a perfect
submission to Allâhu ta’âlâ in a mood of peace and tranquility.
3) A retrospective look into
history will automatically expose the fact that the Islamic religion is the
final true, heavenly religion and that no other religion
4) Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, who
communicated the Qur’ân al-kerîm, is the final prophet.
5) It is doubtless that a person
who enters the Islamic religion will automatically have separated himself from
his former religion. Yet this separation is not so big as it may be
anticipated. The tenets of belief are the same in all the heavenly religions. Qur’ân al-kerîm acknowledges the
heavenly religions before itself. Yet it rectifies the wrong beliefs inserted
into these religions afterwards, exposes the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ in
its essential form, and declares that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is the final prophet and that no prophet will come after him. In other
words, Islam is the true and perfect form of other religions. Various clashes
of interests and contrasting ambitions have made men inimical towards one
another. And this animosity, in its turn, has been exploited by other people,
who have tried to change religions into rival camps and thus to build their
worldly advantages on religions, which, in actual fact, are essentially paths
guiding to knowing Allâhu ta’âlâ. In fact, it takes a little alertness to see that the Islamic
religion acknowledges the other heavenly religions and that it purifies them of
the human interpolations that they had been subjected to in the course of time.
To accept Islam, therefore, means to render a spiritual and material service
which is needed by all people, men and women alike.
6) In no other religion has the
concept of brotherhood among people been stated so expressly as it has been in
Islam. All Muslims, regardless of their race, nation, colour and language, are
brothers of one another. Whatever their political views are, they are brothers
of one another. No other religion possesses this beauty.
7) Islam is a religion which
gives women great rights. The Islamic religion has allotted women the most
proper place. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ stated, “Paradise is beneath a
mothers’ feet.”
The Islamic religion respected
the works of art made by people of other religions, and did not demolish them
like barbars. As they were building mosques like Fâtih and Sultân Ahmad (Blue
Mosque) in Istanbul, they did not feel averse to modelling some of their
architecture after that of Saint Sophia. Throughout
history, Muslims have displayed
greatest justice and mercy towards people of other religions.
For reasons such as these, I
chose Islam for my faith.
To tell you why I became a
Muslim, I have to explain what I felt before and after embracing Islam, my
first contact with Islam and the faidh that it inspired into me. First of all,
let me tell you that thousands of Canadians and Americans think exactly as I
used to think before becoming a Muslim; they have the same feeling of
dissatisfaction; and they are awaiting the scholars of Ahl as-sunna who will
teach them the essence of Islam.
As I was a child, I held fast to
my faith, Christianity, with both hands. For I needed a religion to feed my
soul. However, as I grew older, I began to see a number of faults in
Christianity. The stories told about the life of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and his
being the son of God,-may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect us against saying so,- sounded like superstitious tales
to me. My personal logic would never accept them. I began to ask myself
questions, such as, “If Christianity is the true religion, why are there so
many non- Christians in the World?” “Why do Jews and Christians share the same
basic religious book and differ in other respects?” “Why are non-Christians
doomed to perdition though they have no other apparent faults?” “Why do many
nations choose not to become Christians?”
It was in those days when I met a missionary
who had been serving in India. He complained to me, “Muslims are very
obstinate. They insist that the true religion is Islam, and not Christianity.
So all my efforts to Christianize them end up in failure.” These statements
were at the same time the first definition I had heard of Islam. A sensation of
curiosity towards Islam, seasoned with a high degree of admiration for Muslims
who had been so staunchly attached to their religion, began to blossom in my
heart. I felt that I should observe Islam more closely, and began to attend
lectures on ‘Oriental Literature’ in the university. I saw that what the
oriental people had been rejecting in our belief was the doctrine of ‘trinity’,
and that they
accepted
the belief of ‘One God’, which was perfectly agreeablewith common sense. It was
certain that Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ had announced his religion as one based on
belief in One God, and himself as a mere born slave and Messenger of that One
God. The God he had mentioned should be a merciful God. Nevertheless, that
beautiful and true belief had been smothered with meaningless legends, superstitions
and heresies inserted into Christianity by idolaters, and the pure belief in
the One Merciful, Compassionate God had been adulterated into a tripartite
godhood, which was accessible only to priests and which, so to speak, created
mankind with a share from the original sin. Then, a new religion with a new prophet was necessary to restore the humanity with
that pure and intact belief in One God. Europe, on the other hand, was awash in
semi-barbaric cruelty in those days. As savage tribes were invading countries,
on the one hand, a small minority was perpetrating all sorts of vices under the
mask of religion, on the other. The human race was moaning desperately under
the talons of idolatry and irreligiousness, when, [according to historians],
seven centuries after Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, in the oriental horizons, there rose
Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, the final Prophet
of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and he began to communicate to
people the true religion of the true God, which was based on belief in One God.
When I read and learned all
these facts, I believed in the fact that Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ was the final true Messenger of Allâhu ta’âlâ, because:
1) As I have said above, people
needed a new prophet;
2) All my thoughts concerning Allâhu ta’âlâ conformed with the religion
spread by that great Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’;
3) As soon as I read the Qur’ân al-kerîm, I sensed that it was
the Word of Allâhu ta’âlâ. The facts communicated by the Qur’ân
al-kerîm and the hadîth-i-sherîfs [utterances] of Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’
satisfied me in every respect and infused a sense of peace into my soul. And
this is the reason why I became a Muslim.
You can be sure that, as I have
already said, thousands of Americans and Canadians sense the same deficiencies
and errors in Christianity. Sad to say, though, they have not had the same
chance I did to do a thorough research into the Islamic religion;
After attaining that belief in Islam, I
embarked on a study of the books published about Islam. I would like to touch
upon a few of the works that I could recommend in this connection. An Indian
well-wisher sent me a book captioned ‘What Is Islam?’, written by Q.A. Jairazby
H.W. Lovlegrove. I would specially recommend the book. It is a book that
describes Islam in the best way. Spreading the book worldover would be a useful
service for the promulgation of Islam. I read an English version of Qur’ân al-kerîm rendered by Maulvi Muhammad Alî, and I
liked it. In addition, I read some other books, and I did not neglect magazines
publicizing Islam. In Montreal, I found many works published in French about
Islam. Some of them praised Islam, while others were intended against it. But
Islam’s greatness could not be buried even under books written for the purpose
of reviling it. Instead, they were no more than other sources of evidence
corroborating for me the fact that Islam is the true religion.
WARNING: We, Waqf Ikhlâs Foundation,
publishers of this book, have prepared books in English, in French, in German,
and in other languages for the purpose of rendering a service to those virtuous
people who wish to learn Islam correctly. Each and every one of these books is
a compilation of knowledge borrowed from works written by great and true
Islamic scholars. Names of those works are appended to some of our books. They
are mailed out on request immediately by Hakîkat Kitâbevi, whose address is printed on the front page of this book. We
believe that, if a reasonable person reads these books with due attention, no
matter who he is, he will develop a sincere belief in the Islamic religion and
will become a Muslim willingly. For the Islamic religion is a composition of
credal and canonical principles that would receive a cordial welcome from
people of common sense. People with a poor sense, psychotics, libertines and
egoists cannot recognize or appreciate the Islamic religion.
I am a
doctor and I come from a fanatically Catholic family. Yet my vocational choice,
medicine, provided me a career in positive, experimental, and natural sciences,
which in turn caused me to develop a growing hatred against Christianity. With
respect to religion, I was at complete loggerheads with the other members of my
family. Yes, there was a great Creator, and I believed in Him, i.e. Allâhu ta’âlâ. Yet the absurdities concocted by
Christians, especially by Catholics, various mysterious gods, sons, holy
ghosts, the preposterous fibs fabricated for the purpose of proving that Îsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’ is the son of God, a myriad of other superstitions, ceremonies
and rites pushed me away from Christianity, instead of attracting me towards
it.
Because I held the belief in one
God, I would never accepttrinity, nor would I by any means recognize Îsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’ as the son of God. That means to say that, long before knowing
of Islam, I had already accepted the initial half of the Kalima-i-Shahâdat,
i.e. the part that says, “Lâ ilâha il’l’Allah... (There
is no God but Allah...)” When I began to study the Islamic religion and read
the Ikhlâs Sűra of Qur’an al-kerîm, which purported, “Lo; Allâhu ta’âlâ is One. He is not
begotten, nor does He beget. There is no being bearing any likeness to Him,” I said, “O my Allah. My belief is exactly the same.” I felt
immense relief. I realized that it was of paramount importance to study Islam
more deeply. And as I studied Islam I saw with admiration that this religion
was completely agreeable with my ideas. Islam looked on religious men, and even
on prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawât’, as ordinary people like us; it did not
divinize them. Giving a priest authority to forgive people’s sins was something
which Islam would never accept. The Islamic religion did not contain any
superstitions, any irrational rules, or any unintelligible subjects. The
Islamic religion was a logical one, exactly as I wanted. Contrary to the
Catholics, it did not smudge human beings with the consequences of the
so-called original sin. It enjoined physical and spiritual cleanliness on human
beings. Cleanliness, which is an essential principle in medicine, was in Islam
a commandment of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Islam commanded to clean oneself before acts of worship, and
that was a quality which I had never seen in any
In some Christian rites, such as Baptism and
the Eucharist, people consume the bread and wine offered by the priest in the
name of the flesh and blood of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, which is intended, so to
speak, as a simulated unity with Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, i.e. with God, [may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect us from holding such beliefs!].
I saw the resemblance between these rites and those of the most primitive
heathens, and hated them. My mind, which had improved under the guidance of positive
science, vehemently rejected these puerile rites which did not suit to a true
religion. Islam, on the other hand, did not accommodate any of those things.
There was only truth, love, and cleanliness in Islam.
Eventually, I made up my mind. I
visited my Muslim friends and asked them what I should do to become a Muslim.
They taught me the (statement called) Kalima-i Shahâdat, how to say it and what it meant. As I have mentioned earlier,
before becoming a Muslim, I had accepted its first half, i.e. the part that
meant, “There is no God but Allah,...” It was not difficult, therefore, to
accept the remaining part, which said: “... and Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is His
(born slave and) Messenger.” I was now studying momentous books written about
the Islamic religion. When I read one of them, namely, ‘Le Phéne Coranique’, a
very lovely book prepared by Malak Bannâbî, I saw with amazement and admiration
what a tremendous book Qur’ân al-kerîm was. The facts written in that book of Allah which was revealed
fourteen centuries before now are in precise conformance with the results of
today’s scientific and technological research. Both from scientific and
technological points of view and with respect to sociological activities, the Qur’ân al-kerîm is a guide book not
only today, but also forever.
On the twentieth day of
February, 1953, I went to the Paris mosque and accepted Islam officially in the
presence of Mufti Efendi and the witnesses, and I was given the name Alî
Salmân.
I love this new religion of
mine. I am very happy and I emphasize the firmness of my belief in Islam by
frequently saying the (statement called) Kalima-i-Shahâdat and pondering over
its meaning.
[In
France Islam has been spreading at a high velocity among people who have made
fame in various areas. The number of people who have abandoned Christianity and
chosen
Islam
have reached one hundred thousand already. This score has been confirmed by the
Archbishop
of Paris, the highest Catholic rank in France.
It is noteworthy that people who
have preferred Islam are not only from among workers and civil servants but
also from among people renowned in every respect.
Among people who have chosen
Islam is Captain Cousteau, whom the entire world closely
knows for his explorations about life under water.
As the groundswell of embracing
Islam was spreading among France’s universal celebrities, Captain Cousteau, the
world’s most eminent undersea explorer, announced that by accepting Islam he
had made the most correct decision of his life.
Captain Cousteau, who has
revealed the secrets of oceans one by one with the films that he made and which
are being televised worldover in a program subheaded The Living Sea, said that what actually prompted him to choose the Islamic
religion was, after observing that the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean did not mix with each other, his seeing that the same phenomenon
was written in the Qur’ân al-kerîm which had been revealed fourteen hundred years before.]
Captain Cousteau told of the
event that had caused him to become a Muslim, as follows:
“In 1962 German scientists said that the
waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean did not mix with each other in the
Strait of Bâb-ul-Mandab where the Aden Bay and the Red Sea join. So we began to
examine whether the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean mixed
with each other. First we analyzed the water in the Mediterranean to find out
its natural salinity and density, and the life it contained. We repeated the
same procedure in the Atlantic Ocean. The two masses of water had been meeting
each other in the Gibraltar for thousands of years. Accordingly, the two masses
of water must have been mixing with each other and they
must
have been sharing identical, or, at least, similar properties in salinity and
density. On the contrary, even at places where the two seas were closest to
each other, each mass of water preserved its properties. In other words, at the
point where the two seas met, a curtain of water prevented the waters belonging
to the two seas from mixing. When I told Professor Maurice Bucaille about this
phenomenon, he said that it was no surprise and that it was written clearly in
Islam’s Holy Book, the Qur’ân al-kerîm.[1] Indeed, this fact
was defined in a plain language in the Qur’ân al-kerîm.
When I knew this, I believed in the fact that the Qur’ân
al-kerîm was the ‘Word of Allah’. I chose Islam, the true religion. The
spiritual potency inherent in the Islamic religion gave me the strength to
endure the pain I had been suffering for the loss of my son.”
(Muhammad Emîn Hobohn is both a diplomat and a missionary. He is a
man of knowledge and religion with asocial career.)
Why are Europeans abandoning
their religion and becoming Muslims? It has various reasons. Among them is the
‘Haqq=Truth; Right; Reality’. The principles that Islam is based on are so
logical, so true and honest that it is out of the question for a wise and
educated person seeking for truth and reality in a religion not to accept them.
For instance, the Islamic religion professes the existence of one god. It
appeals to the human common sense, and never descends to inculcating people
with superstitions. The Islamic religion states that people all over the world,
regardless of their races, are the born slaves of Allâhu ta’âlâ, equal and similar. We German
people essentially believe in the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ is a great creator who gives us power and energy and who guides
our souls to perfection. The concept of Allah infuses security and peace into
us. Yet the Christian religion falls short of giving us this sense of peace. It
is the Islamic religion, alone, that teaches us the greatness of Allâhu ta’âlâ and which, at the same time,
guides us in regard to where the human soul will go after death. The Islamic
religion guides us not only in
---------------------------------
[1] “Allâhu ta’âlâ has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:” (55-19,20)
the world, but also in the Hereafter. It teaches in a plain and
logical manner what should be done in the world in preparation for a
comfortable life in the Hereafter. An awareness of the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ will subject human beings to an
equitable interrogation in the Hereafter on what they have done in the world,
will urge them that they should abide by justice and integrity in the world.
For this reason, true Muslims never attempt to do something before thinking
well and being firmly convinced that what they are going to do is really
something useful. Thereby this great religion establishes control over human
beings in such a degree as could be managed by no worldly police organization,
and permanently keeps them on the right way.
Another aspect that makes Islam
an attractive choice in the eyes of Europeans is its norms of worship. The
namâz (the five daily ritual prayers) teaches punctuality to people, and
fasting drills a strong sense of will power into them. What other factor could
be as essential to success in life as punctuality and determination? Great men
owe their accomplishments only to these two determinants. Now I come to a most
beautiful aspect of the Islamic religion: While educating people in the ethical
and humanistic areas in the most logical styles, the Islamic religion never
compels them beyond their capacities. On the contrary, it offers them many
opportunities to lead a prosperous and comfortable life. Allâhu ta’âlâ wishes people to live in
comfort and happiness. To this end, He commands people not to commit sins.
Muslims believe that they are perpetually in the presence of Allâhu ta’âlâ. They avoid committing sins.
Neither in the other religions nor in any of the systems established in Europe
is there another arrangement as lovely or as useful as this.
I have been to many places and districts of
the world on diplomatic and religious missions. I have studied other religions
and social systems minutely. I have seen neither a religion nor a social system
as faultless or as immaculate as Islam. At first sight, communism may seem to
be a correct system of thoughts. Likewise, the western-born democracy, which
has been looked on as the most capacious administration system in worldly
matters, and Nazism may contain some factual aspects. And then none of these
aspects is complete in itself. All of them have a number of deficiencies. The
one and only perfect and faultless system is Islam. It is for this reason that
many a person with common sense and perfect reasoning accepts Islam without any
hesitation. And so did I. Islam is a practical religion, not a theoretical one.
Islam
means
submission to Allâhu ta’âlâ, who is
compassionate and forgiving and who always shows the right way. What on earth
could be more beautiful?
(Dr. Marcus is a renowned man of ideas, a writer, andthe founder of
a magazine, i.e. the magazine entitled Berlinde Moslemische Revue.)
I was only a child when I took
an interest in Islam and began to collect information about Islam. In the
library of my hometown I came across an old translation of Qur’ân al-kerîm that had been printed
in 1164 [1750 C.E.]. According to a narrative, Goethe had read the same
translation of the Qur’ân al-kerîm during his research on the Islamic religion and had expressed his
admiration for the book. As I read the Qur’ân
al-kerîm, I was deeply impressed by its exceedingly logical
and fascinating style of expression that penetrated deep into the soul. How
genuine and useful the principles formulated by Islam were, was manifest in the
fact that nations honoured with Islam had been attaining the zenith of
civilization in a very short time.
When I left my hometown and went
to Berlin, I made friends with all the Muslims living there, joined them and
attended with rapt attention the interesting and instructive conferences held
by the members of the Islamic Mission. The more friendly I became with the
members of the Islamic Mission, the more closely was I able to examine Islam.
After a while I reached the conclusion that Islam was the true religion I had
been aspiring after, believed in it, and accepted Islam.
According to Islam, Allah is One, and belief
in One Creator is Islam’s most sacred credal tenet. The Islamic religion does
not contain any irrational or unbelievable tenet. There is not a creator
besides Allâhu ta’âlâ. In Islam you cannot find
a single dot disagreeable with or contradictory to modern sciences. All its
commandments and inculcations are entirely logical and useful. In Islam, belief
and logic do not contradict each other, which is the common blemish of other
religions. Consequently, for a person like me who has dedicated all his
life-time to natural sciences,
what
could be more natural than preferring Islam, which is in full conformity with
the scientific results that he obtained from his lucubrations, to the other
religions that are quite the other way round?
Another reason I feel compelled
to add is that the other religions are awash in a score of grotesque and
ridiculous ideas that suggest only a far-fetched mood of spirituality. They
have nothing to do with real life situations. Islam, on the other hand, is a
practical religion which guides man also in his trek of life. Commandments of
the Islamic religion lead a person to the right way not only in the Hereafter,
but also in the world, and, in the meanwhile, they never restrict his freedom.
As a Muslim I have been studying
my religion for many years. In every new situation I see even more clearly how
perfect a religion it is, and this in its turn gives me all the more mental
peace.
How exquisite a passageway it is
that Islam lays between the individual and the social life! Islam arranges
these two lives. Islam is a religion of perfect justice and its sole aim is to
guide people to the good end. Islam embodies all the good aspects of all the
world’s social trends.
Why did I become a Muslim?
My son was asking me various questions, and
I was unable to answer them. When he asked me, for instance, “Mummy, why are
there three gods?” I was at a loss as to what to say because I myself did not
believe in trinity, and yet I could not find another answer to convince him.
Eventually, it was sometime during the year 1346 [C.E. 1928], and my son had
reached a maturer age, when, one day, my son came to me, his eyes welling up
with tears. He begged, “Mummy, I have been studying Islam. They believe in one
creator. Their religion is the truest one. So I have decided to become a
Muslim. Join me!” Upon his request, I, too, began to study the Islamic
religion. I went to the Berlin mosque. The imâm of the mosque gave me a cordial
welcome and told me the essentials of Islam. As he spoke, I saw how right and
logical his
words
were. Like my son, I, too, began to believe in the fact that Islam was the
truest religion. First of all, Islam rejected trinity, which I had never been
able to understand or accept since my youth. After examining Islam thoroughly,
I realized the absurdity of such things as redemption, looking on the pope as
an innocent being never prone to sin, baptism and many other rites of the same
sort, I rejected all these falsities and embraced Islam.
All my ancestors were fanatical
Catholics. I was raised in a Catholic monastery. I grew up totally under
Christian education. Yet this sheer religious education that I had received
helped me to choose the true religion that would guide me to Allâhu ta’âlâ. For, all the good things that
I had been taught throughout my education I found not in Christianity, but in
Islam. I am so lucky to have accepted Islam.
Today I am a grandmother. I am
so happy because my grandchild has been born as a Muslim. I know that Allâhu ta’âlâ will always guide those people
whom He has brought to the right way.
(Lord Headley possessed the title of excellency. SirGeorge Allanson
was born in 1855 and descended from the oldest British family. He occupied very
important political positions in Britain, and at the same time made fame as an
editor. He graduated from Cambridge University. In 1877 hewon the title of
Lord. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the British army. He was an engineer
by vocation, but apowerful writer by avocation. Among his publications, his
work entitled ‘A European’s Eyes Are Being Opened AndHe Is Becoming A Muslim’.
Lord Headley became a Muslimin 1913, performed Hadj (the Islamic pilgrimage),
and adopted the name Shaikh Rahmatullah Fârűq. In 1928 he visited India.)
Why did
I become a Muslim? Perhaps, some of my friends and acquaintances are of the
opinion that I became a Muslim as a result of persuation on the part of my
friends and acquaintances. But it is not the fact. My accepting Islam was the
result of long-time research and contemplation. It was after a meticulous
examination
and forming an opinion about Islam that I made contact with Muslims and, seeing
that their belief in their own religion was in conformity with mine, I realized
and became happy that I had entered into a good religion.
The Qur’ân al-kerîm commands that a person
should accept Islam after his heart’s full confirmation, and rejects a
conversionunder coercion. Likewise, Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ said to his Apostles,
“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence,
shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. ...” (Mark:
6-11)
During my former life-time, I
had seen many bigoted Protestants. They would go to Catholic student hostels
and try to force the Catholic students. These unwanted efforts and coercive
attempts would cause various fights, offenses and controversies and would sow
discord among people. The same meaningless methods Christian missionaries used
with Muslims. They ran all sorts of risks for the purpose of Christianizing
Muslims. They resorted to all sorts of stratagems to trap Muslims.
They promised them money, work,
and posts. Those poor ignoramuses did not know that Islam was the religion
where the commandments of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ found the best practice and
confirmation. Christianity has been defiled, to the extentthat the real
Nazarene religion communicated by Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ has been lost completely,
and the tenets of humanity he preached have been forgotten. These things exist
in Islam today. Then, by becoming a Muslim, I have also attained the Nazarene
religion in its pristine purity. Principles commanded by Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’,
such as brotherhood, solidarity, good will, generosity and others, are observed
not by Christians, but by Muslims today. Let me give you an example; The
Christian sect of Athanasians insistently inculcates the tenet that
Christianity is based on a belief in three gods (trinity), that a slightest
doubt as to this belief will lead one to immediate perdition, and that a person
who wishes to attain salvation in this world and the next should definitely
hold a belief in the three gods, i.e. ‘God, the Son of God, and the Holy
Ghost’.
Another example: When I became a Muslim, I
received a letter. It said, “By becoming a Muslim you have damned yourself to
perdition. No one can save you. For you deny the divinity of God.” The poor man
thought that I no longer believed in Allâhu ta’âlâ.
According to his belief, the divinity of Allâhu ta’âlâ
depended on trinity. The idiot did not know that when Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’
had
begun to preach the pure Nazarene religion, he had stated the unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and he had never claimed to be His son.
Islam, by expressing that “There is only one Allah,” rediscovered the original
essence of Nazarene religion. Today, nothing could be as logical as a sane
person’s believing in the existence of one Allah. By becoming a Muslim, I
believe in one real Allah and reject all the fibs that were inserted into the
pure religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ afterwards. The person who wrote me that
letter and the other people who share his ideas are only pitiable. Day by day
Christians are abandoning their religion and becoming atheists. For today’s
Christianity is no longer satisfactory for a normal and cultured person. People
refuse a blind belief in superstitions and entertain doubts about the Christian
creeds. On the other hand, all through my life-time so far, I have never heard
of a Muslim feeling doubts about his faith. For the Islamic religion satisfies
all the spiritual and physical needs of human beings in the most perfect and
rational manner.
A fact I am positive about is
that thousands of Christians, men and women alike, have examined Islam and have
already identified themselves with Islam intrinsically. However, for the fear
that they might lose their jobs or posts in case they officially announced
their choice of Islam, or lest they should arouse derision on the part of their
friends, they do not dare to become Muslims. In our schools Islam is still
being taught as the religion of people who do not believe in Allâhu ta’âlâ. Running the risk of being
cursed as ‘a man with a damned soul’ by all my friends and acquaintances, I
embraced Islam, and for twenty years I have been holding fast to Islam with
both hands.
After giving this brief account
of why I chose Islam, let me add that by becoming a Muslim I managed also to
become amore true and pure follower of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. I wish to be an
example for other Christians. Choosing Islam will not make them enemies of
Christianity, but, on the contrary, it will teach them the true Îsâwî religion,
and it will raise them to a higher level.
(Sir Archibald Hamilton, a well-known British diplomat, served as a
naval officer during the First World War. Coming from
a widely known family,
he possesses the title of baronet, (which means a candidate baron). He was
honoured with becoming a Muslim in 1923.)
Since reaching the age of
puberty, I had been allured by Islam’s simplicity and crystalline limpidity. I
had been born as a Christian and I had been given a Christian education. Yet I
had never believed in wrong credal tenets, and I had always preferred truth,
right and reason to blind beliefs. I had been aspiring to worship one Allah
sincerely and with a peaceful heart. Yet, both the Roman Catholic Church and
the English Protestant Church had been short of serving this pure intention of
mine. It was for these reasons that I answered the call of my conscience and
accepted Islam, which satisfied me fully, and only after that did I begin to
feel myself as a true and better born slave of Allâhu
ta’âlâ.
Sad to say, various Christians
and ignorant people have misrepresented Islam as a religion of falsities and
concoctions that are intended to induce torpor into humanity. But the fact is
that it is the only true religion in the sight of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Islam is a perfect religion
which brings about unity between the powerful and the weak as well as between
the rich and the poor. Economically, there are two main classes of people. The
first class contains people whom Allâhu ta’âlâ has blessed with worldly riches. The second class is made up of
those who have to work for a living. There is yet another class. People in this
class live in utter destitution because they cannot earn enough, because they
have lost their jobs, or because they can no longer work, none of which cases
is their fault. Islam enables all these three classes to come together in a
harmonized society. It commands the rich to help the poor. It provides a social
setting where humiliations and afflictions are extirpated.
The Islamic religion lays emphasis also on
personal abilities, efforts and skills. According to the Islamic jurisprudence,
if a poor peasant, for instance, cultivates an ownerless piece of land on his
own for a certain length of time, the land becomes his personal property. The
Islamic religion is not destructive, but it is restorative.
The Islamic religion prohibits
gambling and all the other vicious and deleterious games. The Islamic religion
prohibits also all sorts of intoxicants. Indeed, the majority of afflictions
people suffer in the world are caused by gambling or alcohol.
We Muslims are not people who
hold the belief that everything is a slave in the hands of destiny. Destiny in
the Islamic sense does not mean to sit idly with your mouth opened in the
celestial direction and to expect that Allâhu ta’âlâ will give you everything. On the contrary, Allâhu ta’âlâ enjoins work in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. Man should do his best
and hold fast to all the apparent causes; only after that will he put his trust
in Allâhu ta’âlâ. Not
without working, but while working, should he beg Allâhu ta’âlâ to help him for success and
earning. The Islamic credal tenet which says that “Good and evil come from Allâhu ta’âlâ” means, “Allâhu ta’âlâ is the Creator of all.” Islam
does not contain a tenet encouraging people to idle away their time. Destiny
means Allâhu ta’âlâ’s knowing
in the eternal past all the events that will take place and His creating
everything when the time in His knowledge comes.
Islam never accepts a credo
based on the belief that human beings are originally sinful, that they are born
with sins, or that they have to expiate their sins throughout their lives.
Islam states that human beings are the born slaves of Allâhu ta’âlâ, men and women alike, and that
with respect to mental and moral qualities the two sexes are not very different
from each other. Only, because men are more powerful and stronger by creation,
onerous and tiresome duties such as supporting the family have been given to
them, while women have been blessed with a more comfortable, more cheerful and
happier life.
I do not want to say much on how
Islam establishes brotherhood among all Muslims. For the entire world knows how
Muslims love and help one another. In Islam all people, the rich, the poor, the
nobles, villagers, civil servants, workers, merchants, are equal in the
presence of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and they are brothers. Throughout my travels in the Muslim
countries, I felt as if I had been in my own home and among my brothers,
wherever I went.
A final remark I would like to add is this:
Islam invites people both to work honestly all day long and to carry on his
acts of worship, his duties as a born slave to Allâhu
ta’âlâ. Today’s Christianity, on the other hand, induces into people a
life style consisting in Masses in the name of worship only on Sundays and a
complete oblivion of Allâhu ta’âlâ covered with
worldly occupations and sins throughout the rest of the week.
It was for these reasons that I
became a Muslim, and I am proud of having become a Muslim.