Several years ago I converted to Islam. There were several things which
guided me toward accepting Islam - such as hearing the numinous beauty of
the Adhan, the Muslim Call to prayer, or reading parts of the Quran - but
the most compelling, and probably deciding factor, was the personal
character, and achievements, of the Prophet Muhammad.
The more I discovered about Muhammad, the more I was amazed. Here was a
historical figure who seemed unlike any other historical figure I had ever
read about. He seemed to not only be able to express the very essence of our
humanity, but he also inspired others to live in a human, a civilized, way,
and indeed seemed to have inspired and made possible, by his sheer
personality, a whole new civilization, with this civilization being truely
enlightened.
I was reminded of Mozart's Opera Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail where, at
the
very end in the judgement scene, the humanity of Islam shines forth, as it
did during the Muslim conquest of Spain where reasoned argument and the
scientific method were upheld as ideals and put into practice.
I vaguely knew, before I began my study of Islam, how the manuscripts of
Greek works such as those of Sophocles only survived due to Islamic
scholars, but I was astounded to find how great the scholarly and scientific
debt to Islam was. Thus I came to understand how, for Muslims, the pursuit
of knowledge is a duty.
Where the Greeks - whom I greatly admired - thought logically about the
world, and the cosmos, the early Muslims actually began to investigate the
world and the cosmos in a systematic, reasoned, scientific, way. In fact, it
is probably true to say that the scientific method itself began with Islam.
There are more verses in the Quran relating to seeking knowledge of the
world, of Nature, of the cosmos, than there are about prayer, and indeed,
the Quran exhorts us to reason, to seek to know, to discover things for
ourselves because thereby we will come to see, to understand, the order, the
purpose, of Nature, of the world, of the cosmos. In brief, we will come to
know the Creator of all these things.
In my study of Islam I read that Muslims believed that the Quran was a
miracle: a proof of the truth of Islam. Unable then to read Arabic, I had to
rely on translations, but even these conveyed a sense of something special.
Could the Quran really be the work of Muhammad? His thoughts, his
"philosophy", his "teachings"?
Years ago, I had read the works of many philosophers, ancient and modern,
The more I read of the Quran, of the Sunnah (the recorded sayings of
Muhammad), of the life of Muhammad himself, the more I came to realize that
Muhammad, the mortal, - As-Sadiq (the truthful one) as he was often called -
was the perfect example to follow, just as I came to the conclusion that
there was something about his life, his character, his achievements, which
defied ordinary explanation. Beginning with nothing - no education, no
advantages whatsoever - this one man had truely revolutionized the world in
a positive and lasting way. And almost one and half thousand years after his
death, millions upon millions of people were still being inspired by his
example, still converting to the faith he revealed. And what particularly
impressed me was that what he taught - the very words of prayer, of the
Quran itself - were the same now, as then. How could this be?
I was forced to conclude that Muhammad was either: (1) the most
remarkable,
accomplished, human being who had ever lived whose achievements, whose
philosophy, whose teachings, whose personal character, far surpassed those
of all other teachers, philosophers and reformers; or (2) in truth someone
who was inspired by something "not of this Earth" (that is, God).
The conclusion I finally accepted was that Muhammad was both of these:
that
his sublime, numinous, civilized teachings were and must be divinely
inspired. There was simply no other explanation. For me, the life, the
achievements, of Muhammad himself were a miracle.
So it was that I accepted that there was no God but the one God, Allah,
and
that Muhammad was the Prophet and Messenger of Allah. That is, I became a
Muslim.
The Right Path in the Midst of Confusion
For over a year after my conversion, I was happy in my new found faith.
There were many new things to learn; many people to meet; many discussions
to be part of. There were no doubts, and I really felt myself to be a
Muslim. My first Ramadan came and went, and I was much like one of the
modern "charismatic" sect of Christianity: happy, pleased with myself, eager
to share my faith, my joy, with others, and sometimes tiresome and annoying
to those who did not believe in God..... A sort of "happy religious fanatic"
of the evangelical kind.
This euphoria of conversion did not last. I had stopped questioning;
stopped
questing after understanding. I realized how little I knew about Islam; that
perhaps faith alone is not enough when faced with the problems of the modern
world, with the materialistic Western society I lived in and had been part
of for decades. Why was this society as it was? What could and should be
done to make it more human, more civilized?
Every day, it seemed, I experienced in some way either directly or via
modern means of communication such as the television, the effects of such a
modern materialistic society, with its arrogant, ill-mannered,
disrespectful, sex-pleasure-and-money-obsessed individuals.
There followed a period of re-assessment; of further and deeper
investigation of Islam, with this investigation conducted in what I can only
describe as an unemotional, logical, way. Everything was examined;
considered. The very foundations of my new faith were scrutinized.
This period was, in hindsight, very rewarding, for I slowly came to
realize
- like the light of dawn spreading to reveal what the monochrome dimness of
night had hidden - how much we need to be guided and how much we need an
awareness of God. In particular I realized that Islam is a true middle way,
rejecting as it does all forms of extremism in both belief and behaviour.
In brief, I began to appreciate and understand the true humanity of Islam
and why, because of this, Islam was so important for this modern
materialistic world of the "ego society" where individuals have lost or
never had an awareness of anything beyond their own desires, their own
feelings, their own dreams: where there was little or no perspective beyond
the life of the individual, and little or no respect for the numinous, for
the sacred: for God.
We need to know, to feel, to understand, that we will one day be held
accountable for what we do, what we say: that one day we will be judged.
For, without a belief in, and knowledge of, God - without a belief in
God's
judgement of us - we can be and often are, arrogant, disrespectful of
others, ill-mannered, brutish and uncivilized. We need, and indeed must
have, morals: some kind of ethical guidance, for otherwise there is
barbarism, cruelty, inhumanity. We must appeal to something eternal which is
far, far beyond our own feelings, our own thoughts, our own human-made
ideas, for otherwise we can and will go astray, mistaking our own limited,
fallible, feelings and ideas for truth, for justice, for right, and so -
despite our possible good intentions - doing and enjoining what is wrong,
hurtful, disrespectful and inhuman. We can and will be able to make excuses
for our failings, for our bad, inhuman, feelings, thoughts and ideas. We can
and will be lacking in discipline, and unable or unwilling to restrain
ourselves.
Among all such fallible changing things, Islam remains firm; steady; the
same now as it was at the time of the Prophet in Medina. Among the turmoil,
the change, the strife, the divine path of Islam stands out, safeguarding
and leading us to the numinous, the sacred, the eternal: to God.
I am and remain a Muslim because I believe and accept that Muhammad
revealed
the most civilized guide to living ever known: that he revealed to us the
right way to live our lives, and that only by following this path can we
attain true freedom. I came to understand how and why Islam liberates us:
for it is because Muslims submit wholly to God.
That is, Islam liberates us because it makes us into what we truely are,
a
creation of the Creator, placing us where we really belong: among Nature, on
this planet, in a solar system within a galaxy teeming with billions upon
billions of galaxies which we cannot control or shape with our fallible
ideas. We cannot create a planet, as we cannot bring life to that planet.
In brief, Islam provides us with a truthful, a rational, perspective:
with
the cosmic perspective we need to lead good, just, honourable, moral,
civilized lives, and which can create - and has created - good, just,
honourable, moral, civilized societies for people to live in: in fact, a
perspective which has created the most civilized, free, societies ever
known.
I am reminded of a saying of Ali Ibn Abu Talib, Muhammad's son-in-law:
"Some people submit to Allah out of desire for reward: that, surely, is
the
submission of traders. Other people submit to Allah out of fear, and that,
surely, is the submission of slaves. Yet another group submit to Allah out
of gratefulness, and this, most certainly, is the submission of free human
beings." (Source: Nahjul Balagha, Saying 237)