shamma@ccu.umanitoba.ca (12/03/90)
A friend of mine asked to post the following article for him
in S.R.Islam.
Start of article:
*************************************************************************
I asked a close friend of mine who recently became a Muslim to write
down a brief account of how he came to Islam. Although he didn't feel
like exposing some of the details, I assured him that he would remain
anonymous, but I felt that his story (which I personally knew) had a
crucial lesson to teach the rest of us Muslims. The key point I wanted
to stress was that he came to Islam through the discussions he had at a
political society at his university with a Muslima who was taking part
in the activities of the society.
For far too long we have discouraged our sisters from taking part
in the community we are living in. We have to decide whether or not we
are going to try to forge a future here in the West, or if we are going
to emigrate to Muslim lands after a brief sojourn here. If we are
serious about staying, then we have to get on with the job of
establishing Islam here; this demands that both the brothers and the
sisters *get involved* with the natives, work side by side with them,
show them the Islamic alternatives and surely then we will be doing a
better job of finding the potential Muslims than now.
I would like us to bear in mind the story of Umm Salama, the
companion of the Prophet (SAW) who told Abu Talha that she would accept
his Taslim as her Mahr. He became Muslim, married her, and became one of
the stalwarts of Islam later on.
The author of the following article is now spending his time
learning more about Islam, and has lately been frustrated with the
difficulties of encouraging born-Muslims to take part in any community
work. May Allah help him to find others like himself, and to surpass the
efforts of those who were instrumental in his path to Islam.
HOW I REVERTED TO ISLAM
=======================
Why did I embrace Islam? Well, basically because I fell in love
with a Muslima who was very beautiful, modest and active, with strong
iman.
That's the short version, here's the longer one :
I was brought up as a Christian but by my teenage years got
disillusioned because a lot of the 'Christians' I saw didn't act like
Christians. This hypocrisy really got to me and started the process of
me turning away from Christianity. Later I began to question the
Christian ideology. I couldn't accept the concept of Original Sin, that
everyone is born evil/sinful; this seemed so harsh for a religion that
purported to believe in a just and loving God. The next step was
rejecting the idea that Jesus (PBUH) was the son of God. To be honest,
it wasn't the idea at first, that God could have a son that repulsed
me, but that God could allow his son to be crucified; this again seemed
to contradict with the idea that God was just and compassionate.
Slowly I became an agnostic then a fierce atheist. By the time I
came to university I was full of rage towards religion. I'm ashamed to
say I had very little patience with religious people and could be quite
offensive towards them.
Well the inevitable happened : I fell in love with a Christian. I
wanted to get to know her better and to impress her, so I swallowed my
pride (a bit) and decided to go to the chapel which she went to. Well
the first time I went she wasn't there ! (Quite funny really). But I was
overwhelmed by the service. The chaplain was such a down to earth sort
of guy with strong faith. He overwhelmed me. I felt really humbled,
realising I was wrong, there is a God. I started visiting this chaplain,
and talking about God; slowly my faith grew. I started re-reading the
Bible, making allowances for bits I didn't like, i.e. to some extent the
Bible was written for a certain time and therefore needed to be
modernised a bit. I now considered myself a Christian once more though I
still didn't accept that Jesus (PBUH) was the son of God nor the concept
of Original Sin. Other Christians were amazed how I could call myself a
Christian and not accept these two things; but I didn't care, I felt
really happy. But after six months I felt alone in my beliefs and slowly
frustration set in.
Then I went downhill again. I fell in love again (getting a bit
predictable this, isn't it). This time it was with an atheist. Well we
got very close, I started doing things I knew were wrong like heavy
drinking of alcohol; my peace of mind collapsed and I became an angry
young man again. Well she dumped me (not surprising really). I was
totally cut-up. Gave up totally on women. Never again I said.
Never is a big concept however. About eight months later I met the
Muslima I mentioned to you. We met through a 'political' group. Well
some of her ideas really repulsed me; how could she believe in capital
punishment? How could she say violence was sometimes necessary and how
could she reconcile being a woman with being a Muslim? We had many
lively discussions on these and other subjects. As I got to know her
better I became really struck by her modesty, she was hardly
materialistic at all which impressed me and she glowed with a sort of
inner peace. She started giving me pamphlets and books on Islam which I
read wanting to understand her more. I soon realised my preconceptions
of Islam and women were quite wrong, way off mark! I gradually fell in
love with her but realised that she couldn't possibly accept me unless I
became a Muslim.
When I made Shahadah I cried. I felt humbled and at peace and was
on a high for about 2 weeks. When I next saw her I told her that I had
embraced Islam; she guessed why and our friendship became strained.
For the next six months I was in torment; to be or not to be a
Muslim, that was the question. Firstly the sister concerned wasn't
interested in me as a husband, and as this was the reason why I had
reverted why stay a Muslim? On the other hand I had met some good
Muslims and was impressed by the kindness they had shown me, a mere
stranger, and I remembered the feeling of peace I had had when I
submitted to God. But though I was impressed by the Islamic concepts of
brotherhood, emphasis on reason, and on changing society, I still
couldn't accept the ideas of capital punishment, use of violence
(sometimes) in Jihad and I couldn't accept the stance on homosexuality
(a lot of my friends were gay). For a while I reconciled these by taking
the liberal Muslim view that the Qur'an should be subjected to
historical analysis..that certain ideas can be rejected as they were
only applicable to their time of revelation. Well I soon became
uncomfortable with this liberal position.
I gradually began to realise that if I wanted to be a Muslim I
had to accept that the Qur'an is the Word of God and its concepts apply
to all ages. I had to submit and not take Islam on my own terms, thus I
slowly saw the wisdom behind capital punishment and violence in Jihad.
But the issue of homosexuality still bugged me. I realised that I might
have to choose between my friends and God. This was very difficult. At
first I chose my friends, then I decided to submit to God even if it
meant loosing my friends. So I repented again and made Shahadah, this
time determined to strive Insha-Allah to be a true Muslim !
*****************************************************************************
End of article
Walid
-----mayne@sun10.scri.fsu.edu (William (Bill) Mayne) (12/05/90)
In article <1990Dec2.211935.6446@nntp-server.caltech.edu> shamma@ccu.umanitoba.ca writes:
[Article by anonymous friend of poster omitted]
I'll use this as a point of departure a few questions concerning
words I've seen in talk.religion.islam and other matters.
I am curious about the use of the word "reverted" in the title
of this thread and the text of the article in question. When I
first read it I assumed it was about someone who left Islam and
later returned, a very common experience for young people raised
in any religion, it seems. But the article described how a
non-Muslim came to be a Muslim. Normally the word we English
speakers in the west would use for that is "conversion". The
"re-" prefix implies going back to something. Now this may just
be a confusion of usage if the author was not a native speaker
of English. But I wonder if it is more than that. Does it have
some special significance to Muslims, suggesting something like
the soul "coming home" even if they weren't a Muslim before?
Second related question: Does anybody know how many Muslims there
are in various western countries and the proportion which are
(1) natives or at least from families of traditional Muslim countries
vs (2) converts from the host countries. In the U.S.A. I know there
are many black Muslims. In fact as far as I know they constitute a
group (actually few groups) of their own. How many other converts are
there? How do other Muslims regard the separate (but equal?) black
Muslim groups? Of the converts, how many converted (or reverted, if
you prefer) at least partly because of marriage with a Muslim?
Finally, I see a lot of other unfamiliar words in this forum.
Since I am glad to learn new words and I realize that most messages
are intended for Muslims who already know them I'd appreciate
it if authors would continue to use their special vocabulary but
explanations be posted for us infidels who want to learn. This could
be in the articles themselves (by the author or moderator) or maybe
in a separate "frequently asked questions" post. Here are a few
words taken from the article mentioned. In some cases I have an idea
what they mean, but my assumptions may be incomplete or wrong:
Muslima - evidently "a" as a feminine suffix, from Arabic?
SAW - acronym for some traditional blessing, like PBUH?
iman - The usage was "with strong iman" describing a woman.
Also, isn't this used as a title for some high clerics?
made Shahadah -
--------
to strive Insha-Allah to be a true Muslim
-----------
There are several other unfamiliar words which I have seen and which
appear to be part of a special islamic vocabulary, but I don't find
in the particular article which prompted this post. There have been a
few articles which though written in English (sort of) contained so
many unusual words I couldn't figure out what the author was
writing about!
I admit I'm asking here partly out of laziness. I could no doubt find
answers in books. But I hope some folks out there on the net will
want to give their views and I seek to learn what regular people
think, not just what scholars write. Actually the former is far more
interesting to me.
Bill Maynennk@cs.wayne.edu (Nasir Naseem Khawaja) (12/09/90)
In article <1990Dec5.082914.2315@nntp-server.caltech.edu> mayne@sun10.scri.fsu.edu (William (Bill) Mayne) writes: >I am curious about the use of the word "reverted" in the title >of this thread and the text of the article in question........ >Does it have some special significance to Muslims, suggesting >something like the soul "coming home" even if they weren't a >Muslim before? I believe this WAS (as you speculated) a case of a non native English speaker who used "Reverted" where it should have been "Converted", which is what we Muslims call those who accept Islam. >How do other Muslims regard the separate (but equal?) black >Muslim groups? Personally (and people may disagree), I believe that the black Muslims have a slightly different view of Islam as compared to the Islam found in the rest of the world. I would like to believe that this conclusion of mine is a consequence of non-muslim propaganda which shows the black muslims viewing their leaders (malcom X, FaraKahn etc) as more than just people who led (yes. I'm insinuating prophethood). >There have been a few articles which though written in English (sort of) >contained so many unusual words I couldn't figure out what the author was >writing about! Though I am not a native Arabic speaker, I think that we people of the middle-eastern countries (Muslim) know some tid bits of the language which are enough to get us by at a congregation given in English by an Arabic speaker. Here are a few of the words you will most likely hear (or read) in a discussion on Islam. * SAW -- Sal' Allah 'O' Alayhey Wasallam [same (as you said) as PBUH] * Insha-Allah -- with Allah's grace; or, If Allah so wills * Salaa' -- Muslim Prayer * Iman -- pronounced "eemaan" meaning faith * Shahadah -- better understood if written "sha-ha-dah" meaning bearing witness. Sha-ha-dah is also the death a Muslim encounters while striving in the name of Allah thus becoming "Sha-heed". * Jihaad -- Unlike the usuall negative meaning given to it, Jihaad literally means "a strive". Jihaad ranges from a the very basic- a Jihaad on oneself (controll over bad habits), to the ultimate- a Jihaad on Evil. I hope this small collection would be helpful to you in understanding the discussions on Islam better. >Bill Mayne Nasir. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ./ \. Nasir Khawaja | :: :: >>>>>>>>>>>>> ./ | \. Wayne State University -.- | :: :: >>>>>>>>>>>> ./ \. Detroit, Mi 48202 | -.-:: :: >>>>>>>>>>> ./ | \. (313) 577-8513 ___ | | :: :: >>>>>>>>>> ./ \. __/__/ | @ :: :: >>>>>>>>> .///////|\\\\\\\. nnk@cs.wayne.edu ____/ \___/ :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
sam@iastate.edu (Masroor Syed Abulkhair) (12/10/90)
PEACE.
I disagree with Nasir Khwaja.
1. Muslims are now using the term "REVERTED" instead of "CONVERTED" in
case of Islam very commonly. The reason being the Muslim belief that all
children are born MUSLIMS i.e. they are in harmony with the world in
obedience of Allah, and completely w/o sin. Our parents however, often
impose their beliefs on us making us christians, jews, or idolators.
When we become Muslims, we are going BACK to our original state of
purity. Thus the word `Reverted'.
2. Many African Americans are reverting to the true faith. Most of
them belong to the majority `sunni' Islam. Some are also joining
different `religious groups', calling themselves Muslims. Some of these
may have a non-Islamic content. If I classify some of them as
non-Muslims, it may be due to my sunni-hanafi bias. However, I cannot
take a general position w/o carefully examining each one of these
groups. e.g. any cult that discriminates on the basis of race or color
is non-Islamic. However, it is not clear if any of the African-American
'Muslim' group discriminates on this basis. Many Afro-American Muslims
are very highly respected in Muslim circles. However, each ethnic group
{Arab, Pakistani, African, Malay, American} seems to prefer its own.
African Americans are usually referred to as AMERICAN Muslims among us
FOREIGN borns!!
Hope I was a help
abulkhair masroorjgreat@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Janet Greathouse) (12/11/90)
Salaam Alaikum.
Indeed, the term "reverted" refers to going back to something. Muslims
who at one time were not Muslims, and who have since chosen Islam, use
the word because it exactly expresses what they mean:
re vert ; from the latin re (again) and -vertere, -verti (to return
back to, to roll back, to come around again in due course.)
According to the Qur'an, each of us is born Muslim, which means born
in submission to Allah. However, not all of us are blessed with being
born into Muslim families where Islam is lived and taught. When we are
born into non-Muslim families and are taught to believe either a
religion other than Islam, or no religion at all, then we become not
Muslim.
As persons born into such non-Muslim families grow and, Insh'Allah,
discover Islam and its perfection, they, upon accepting Islam and the
Islamic way of life, `revert' to it. Though they may be learning of
it intellectually for the first time, it is not the first time their
hearts have felt submission to Allah, for He created all of us
initially in complete submission to Him. You phrased it interestingly
when you asked, "Does it [the use of the word revert] have any special
significance to Muslims, suggesting something like the soul coming
home even if they weren't Muslims before?" You see, we _were_ Muslims
before.
Thus the correctness of the term `reverting' to Islam.
I know, Subhana'Allah, I'm a revert. :)
Khudahafiz.SX43@liverpool.ac.uk (12/11/90)
In article <1990Dec5.082914.2315@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, mayne@sun10.scri.fsu.edu (William (Bill) Mayne) says: > BM> I am curious about the use of the word "reverted" in the title BM> of this thread and the text of the article in question. When I BM> first read it I assumed it was about someone who left Islam and BM> later returned, a very common experience for young people raised BM> in any religion, it seems. But the article described how a BM> non-Muslim came to be a Muslim. Normally the word we English BM> speakers in the west would use for that is "conversion". The BM> "re-" prefix implies going back to something. Now this may just BM> be a confusion of usage if the author was not a native speaker BM> of English. But I wonder if it is more than that. Does it have BM> some special significance to Muslims, suggesting something like BM> the soul "coming home" even if they weren't a Muslim before? You're quite right Bill. Muslims use the word 'Revert' rather than 'convert' for a reason. The Messenger (Peace be on him) told us that every child is born in perfect submission to the Will of its Creator, in perfect Islam, in other words. It is then the parents (read : 'environment'/'upbringing' if you like) that make the child grow up to be an atheist or idol-worshipper or whatever. Islam is the so-called Deenu-l-Fitrah, the Natural Way, which people would end up treading were it not for their nurture on milk of a different disposition. So when somebody comes to Islam, they are really coming back to the Natural form they were in when they were born. This is why Muslims sometimes prefer to call it reversion rather than conversion. BM> Second related question: Does anybody know how many Muslims there ... BM> there? How do other Muslims regard the separate (but equal?) black BM> Muslim groups? Of the converts, how many converted (or reverted, if BM> you prefer) at least partly because of marriage with a Muslim? Anybody who follows the Qur'an as the Word of Allah, and the Sunnah of Muhammad (PBUH) as its exemplification, is a Muslim...period. Irrespective of colour, race, height, or other characteristics. I don't know about the groups you mentioned; I will mention one thing though, that I have heard about this Nation of Islam group, which apparently advocates Black Power and that white folk are bad.. this was the group that Malcolm X (Al-Hajj Malik Shabbaz, later ?) left after he went on the Pilgrimage and discovered true Islam. It was probably extremists associated with this group which assassinated him after that. I have heard a couple of tapes of Louis Farrakhan, who leads them these days. I can't see how they can claim to be Muslim. I am not suprised that Black people in the States are coming to Islam. For them it is more than a question of reverting to the state they were in at birth.. it was largely Muslims who were kidnapped from Africa and forced to work as slaves in America. The black people in America have a link to Islam that goes a long way back in time and geography. (One of the articles in the list I compiled is on this topic : 'carib mwise'. I can send it anyone who wants to read it.) BM> Finally, I see a lot of other unfamiliar words in this forum. ... BM> BM> Muslima - evidently "a" as a feminine suffix, from Arabic? Yup. BM> SAW - acronym for some traditional blessing, like PBUH? Salli Allahu alaihi Wa sallam = May the Peace of Allah be on him. Sometimes denoted SAWS. PBUH means Peace Be Upon Him. BM> iman - The usage was "with strong iman" describing a woman. BM> Also, isn't this used as a title for some high clerics? Iman roughly translates to Faith. Having Iman means you are secure in your Belief. BM> made Shahadah - The Shahadah is the testimony : I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. BM> to strive Insha-Allah to be a true Muslim Insha-Allah; 'In' = 'if', 'sha' = 'will' and the phrase basically means 'If it be the Will of Allah', or God-Willing. ... BM> in the particular article which prompted this post. There have been a BM> few articles which though written in English (sort of) contained so BM> many unusual words I couldn't figure out what the author was BM> writing about! Sorry Bill ! It is difficult for some people, especially Arabs who aren't familiar with English 'religious' terms, not to use the Arabic terms which come into any discussion of things Islamic. I agree there should be a FAQ post which contains a glossary of terms which may need explanation to non-Arabs. BM> I admit I'm asking here partly out of laziness. I could no doubt find That's ok. Keep the questions coming. BM> Bill Mayne Fazal.
khan@romulus.rutgers.edu (Farrukh Shah Khan) (12/12/90)
In article <1990Dec9.012023.21931@nntp-server.caltech.edu> nnk@cs.wayne.edu (Nasir Naseem Khawaja) writes: > In article <1990Dec5.082914.2315@nntp-server.caltech.edu> mayne@sun10.scri.fsu.edu (William (Bill) Mayne) writes: > > >I am curious about the use of the word "reverted" in the title > >of this thread and the text of the article in question........ > >Does it have some special significance to Muslims, suggesting > >something like the soul "coming home" even if they weren't a > >Muslim before? > > > I believe this WAS (as you speculated) a case of a non native > English speaker who used "Reverted" where it should have been > "Converted", which is what we Muslims call those who accept Islam. It is No such case. The term "Revert" is used to signify the concept of pureness and innocence of a child unlike Christianity. According to philosophy of Islam, every person is born innocent (a Muslim; what a contradiction of terms for current muslims!!). We gather all sins in this world by our actions and more importantly our intentions. A child is not responsible of its parents' actions and nobody else can take our sins from us (and add them to his/her list of sins). Only Allah can forgive our sins if He wishes and He also does not add them to somebody else's list of sins. Is it not common sense justice. -- ^ ~ / * * ' _ __ w (_) Live long and prosper. ' _/ __/ Farrukh Shah Khan. (__, _/ khan@remus.rutgers.edu "MEN MUST CHANGE BEFORE THE KINGDOMS" (Jesus) "Peace is as much an art to learn as war" Sen. Matsunaga (Hawaii)
zix@cs.nott.ac.uk (Zafer Iqbal) (12/13/90)
In article <1990Dec9.012023.21931@nntp-server.caltech.edu> nnk@cs.wayne.edu (Nasir Naseem Khawaja) writes: >In article <1990Dec5.082914.2315@nntp-server.caltech.edu> mayne@sun10.scri.fsu.edu (William (Bill) Mayne) writes: > >>I am curious about the use of the word "reverted" in the title >>of this thread and the text of the article in question........ >>Does it have some special significance to Muslims, suggesting >>something like the soul "coming home" even if they weren't a >>Muslim before? > > > I believe this WAS (as you speculated) a case of a non native > English speaker who used "Reverted" where it should have been > "Converted", which is what we Muslims call those who accept Islam. No reverted is the correct word - Islam regrads every child to be born a Muslim. He/she remains Muslim until they reach the age of maturity where they can decide for themselves what to believe in &c... and hence become a Muslim or a non-Muslim. >... >>There have been a few articles which though written in English (sort of) >>contained so many unusual words I couldn't figure out what the author was >>writing about! > > > Though I am not a native Arabic speaker, I think that we people > of the middle-eastern countries (Muslim) know some tid bits of > the language which are enough to get us by at a congregation > given in English by an Arabic speaker. > > Here are a few of the words you will most likely hear (or read) > in a discussion on Islam. > > * SAW -- Sal' Allah 'O' Alayhey Wasallam [same (as you said) as PBUH] * Khilafah - the perfect ruling system which comprises of a caliph who implements Islam 100% in a country! >... > > Nasir. >::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: >:: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ./ \. Nasir Khawaja | :: >:: >>>>>>>>>>>>> ./ | \. Wayne State University -.- | :: >:: >>>>>>>>>>>> ./ \. Detroit, Mi 48202 | -.-:: >:: >>>>>>>>>>> ./ | \. (313) 577-8513 ___ | | :: >:: >>>>>>>>>> ./ \. __/__/ | @ :: >:: >>>>>>>>> .///////|\\\\\\\. nnk@cs.wayne.edu ____/ \___/ :: >::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Zaf