Why I became a Muslim
“First and foremost, I did not become a Muslim because I was down in the dumps, lost or disillusioned. Quite the opposite. I was very content in the truest sense of the word. Nor a gun was put to my head and forced me into Islam, as was done to my slave ancestors into Christianity. Nor did I go looking for Islam. In a nutshell, I was attracted to the beauty and simplicity of Islamic monotheism (Tawheed).”
“Verily this religion is uncomplicated.”
Saying of Prophet, Muhammed (Pbuh).
Maybe it was my subconscious mind that was deeply nurtured and shaped by the beautiful natural environment in Jamaica that recognized the sublime beauty of Islam. My blessed environment had prepared me to recognise and appreciate the best.
Confirming the Prophet Pbuh statement:
“Each child is born in a state of “Fitra”
(natural inclination to submit to the
fact that Allah is its Lord and Creator.”)
But his parents make him a Jew or a Christian.”
Since becoming a Muslim, almost everyday I was asked why have I given up Christianity and the true Church “The Seventh Day Adventist”?
Or why have I given up the religion of my grandmother, mother, wife, family and all my friends?
Or what is Islam doing for me that Christianity could not do?
References were also made that I could not have had a real relationship with God or know God personally to have left the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Some even said I was not a true Christian.
I was always left feeling dissatisfied and unsure with the short quick answers or reasons I was giving, which seems more of a justification rather than my heartfelt reasons.
So what exactly triggered me to make this drastic life-changing switch from Christianity to Islam?
Is this triggering sudden or something that was slowly brewing, simmering over a period of time?
There are three areas of cause that could have influenced my decision.
One:
Historically, my slave ancestors were more likely to have been Muslims coming from the West Coast of Africa than Christians. So I am just returning back to my way of life, as they say, going back to my roots.
Two:
Intellectually, meaning to think as Paul stated in the Bible 1 Corinthians 13:11:
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
I think Dr. Bilal Philips articulates and summarises this phenomenon perfectly in his booklet entitled ‘Understanding Islam’ :
Each person is born in a circumstance which is not of his own choosing. The religion of his family or the ideology of the state is thrust upon him from the very beginning of his existence in this world. By the tame he reaches his teens, he is usually fully brainwashed into believing that the beliefs of his particular society are the correct beliefs that everyone should have. However, when some people mature and are exposed to other belief-systems, they begin to question the validity of their own beliefs.
The seekers of truth often reach a point of confusion upon realizing that each and every religion, sect, ideology and philosophy claims to be the only one correct way for man. Indeed, they all contain some valid and reasonable points and they all encourage people to do good. So, which one is right? They cannot all be right since each claims that all the others are wrong. How then does the seeker of truth choose the right way?
God gave us all minds and intellects to enable us to make this crucial decision. It is the most important decision in the life of a human being. Upon it depends his future. Consequently each and every one of us must examine dispassionately the evidence presented and choose what appears to be right until further evidence arises.
Like every other religion or philosophy, Islam also claims to be the one and only true way to God. In this respect, it is no different from other systems. This booklet intends to provide some evidence for the validity of that claim. However, it must always be kept in mind that one can only determine the true path by putting aside emotions and prejudices, which often blind us to reality. Then, and only then, will we be able to use our God-given intelligence and make a rational and correction decision.
Malcolm X also shines some light on this very interesting topic regarding on how to think:
“One of the first things, I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself. Then you can come to an intelligent decision for yourself. If you form the habit of going by what you hear others say about someone or going by what others think about someone, instead of searching that thing out for yourself and seeing for yourself, you will be walking west when you think you’re going east and you will be walking east when you think you’re going west. This generation, especially of our people, has a burden more so than any other time in history. The most important thing that we can do is learn to think f or ourselves.
It's good to keep wide open ears and listen to what everybody else has to say, but when you come to make a decision, you have to weigh all of what you’ve heard on its own, and place to where it belongs and come to a decision for yourself, you’ll never regret it. But if you form the habit of taking what someone else says about a thing without checking it out for yourself, you’ll find that other people will have you hating your friends and loving your enemies. This is one of the things that young people are beginning to learn today, that it is very important to think out a situation for yourself. If you don’t do it, you’ll always be manoeuvred into a situation where you are never fighting your actual enemies, where you will find yourself fighting your own self.”
Basically, we have arrived in a very particular time of history where the desire to know and understand the deep and hidden mysteries of life has become the order of the day.
It’s an age of questioning and reasoning. An age where people are not easily persuaded by emotional rhetoric, as was in the days of old.
The approach is entirely different in the sense that no stone will be left unturned, no loose endings, grey areas, superstition, mysticism, or dogma which cannot quench our thirst for truth anymore.
Everything now is based on evidence, concrete proof and rational arguments.
A dignified responsibility, a new birth, an awakening of self-esteem that gives us respite from all sorts of historical oppression, fear, ignorance, humiliation, and discrimination that once hinders us from thinking for ourselves.
Three:
Spiritually, I was brought up in a very disciplined, structured SDA environment, where religion was my way of life. And yardstick for everything and often heard the saying:
“Train up a child in the way he should go:
And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
To be honest, hand on my heart, I think I have not been able to depart from my early religious training.
Firstly, I was much impressed by the steps taken by Muslims before they approach their Creator for worships (Wudu)and other forms of purification.
Secondly, I always found the Muslim women dress much dignified. It inspires respect in an age and milieu where women are looked upon as mere objects of sex.
Thirdly, when it comes to theology, I could not reconcile myself with the Christian concept of God. While the Old Testament teaches the uniqueness of God, The New Testament advocates the concept of a Trinity, and yet there is no evidence for that in what Jesus or any other prophets said.
On top of that, I found the methods and comments of some Christian scholars attacking Islam intellectually dishonest.
Isolated extracts were taken from the Bible out of context and then compiled into a body of text referring to Islam. When in fact there was no sound biblical base for it.
For example, “The Story of the Seer of Patmos” by Stephen N. Haskell, page 161, Chapter 10 The Beginning of Woes.
This naturally made me curious and eventually prompted a quest into Islam with the intention of real understanding what Islam was about.
At the end of my quest, I objectively come to the conclusion that Islam was and is the true religion of God.
It had further dawned on me that the religion God had given to Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh) was the same old time religion He has previously given to Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (Peace be upon them all) as stated in Quran 42:13. Islam has never claimed to be a new religion but rather a continuation of the monotheistic traditions of old. Amazingly, this awareness must have naturally been deep in my subconscious mind because as a child we often sung this song in church:
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It was good for the Hebrew children
So it is good enough for me
Thanks for reading.
- Leroy