Dr.Maurice Bucaille ( why i'm muslim)

Maurice Bucaille was born to a French parent and, like his family, he grew up a Christian. When he ended his secondary education, he joined Faculty of Medicine, France University. He excelled at medicine until he obtained a BSc degree and worked hard until he rose to fame, becoming the most renowned and cleverest surgeon ever in modern France, but a story happened to change his life completely.

Story of his conversion to Islam:

France is known for its unique interest in archeology and heritage. When  French Socialist President François Mitterrand assumed power in 1981, France asked Egypt, late in the eighties, for the mummy of Egypt's pharaoh so that it would conduct a string of monumental and processing experiments. Actually the body of Egypt's most notorious tyrant was transferred to France, and, strangely, the French president and his ministers as well as senior officials in the country lined up near the plane carrying the pharaoh's body and bowed down to him as if he were still alive! After the ceremonies of the royal –like reception to Egypt's pharaoh were over, the tyrant's mummy was carried nearly in the same red carpet reception way he received. Then the mummy was transferred to a special wing at the French Monuments Center, and renowned archeologists, surgeons and anatomists started to conduct a study on this mummy in an attempt to delve into its mysteries. The senior surgeon and the scientist in charge of the study on this mummy of the pharaoh was Professor Maurice Bucaille. While the processors were busy making restoration to the mummy, their head (Maurice Bucaille) was thinking otherwise. He was trying to discover how this pharaoh died when, late at night, he concluded his final analyses. The remains of the salt stuck in his body was a shining evidence that he had drowned and that his body was retrived from the sea swiftly after he drowned; it was also obvious that they rushed to mummify his body so that his body would remain intact!! But he (i.e. Maurice Bucaille) puzzled over a question: How did this body- to the exclusion of other mummified bodies of other ancient Egyptians- remain that intact although it was recovered from the sea?" He asked himself. Maurice Bucaille was busy conducting a final report while thinking as to whether the pharaoh's body was recovered from the sea and mummified immediately after he drowned. But one of his company whispered in his ear, saying" There is no need to rush about this issue, since the Muslims say that this pharaoh did drown". At first, he vehemently rejected this say and did not believe it, citing that such a discovery would be reached only through sophisticated, modern and accurate computers. Another one accompanying him surprised him more when he told him that the Muslims' Qu'ran in which they believe narrates the story that says he drowned and that his body remained intact even after he drowned. He got more surprised and kept on asking" Where did the Muslims' Qu'ran quote these data from while the mummy was not discovered until 1898 AD, i.e. about 200 years only, given that the Qu'ran has been recited by Muslims for over 1400 years, and given also that until a few decades ago the entire mankind including Muslims did not know that the ancient Egyptians had mummified their pharaohs?!.

Maurice Bucaille stayed up all this night gazing at Pharaoh's body, thinking deeply of what his fellow researcher told him about the Muslims' Qu'ran explicitly establishing that this body was recovered after drowning, while the Christians' Gospel (Matthew and Luca ) narrated only the story of pharaoh when he was chasing Messenger Musa( SAWS) without mentioning the fate of his body at all.

"Is it believable that Mohammed ( SAWS) knew about this over one thousand years ago while I have only just known it ?!" he said to himself .

Maurice spent a sleepless night, and asked for a version of the Torah. He devoted part of his time to reading the Exodus in the Torah which read, "And the water turned to drown the military tools and horses of Pharaoh's army, chasing all of them until it left nobody".

But this text only furthered Bukaille's astonishment; since even Torah did not narrate that the body was recovered and remained intact due to the processing and restoration which it did undergo.

France sent back the mummy to Egypt in a splendid glass coffin. But , since he knew about the story circulated by Muslims on the intactness of this body, he decided to pack his baggage and travel to Saudi Arabia where a medical conference happened to be held with a galaxy of Muslim anatomists attending.
There, told them about his discovery, i.e. that Pharaoh's body was kept intact even after he drowned. One of the conferees opened the Mos'haf and read out the ayah in which Allah, SWT, said, " So today We will (safely) deliver you with your body that you may be a sign to the ones succeeding you; and surely many among mankind are indeed heedless of Our signs.” (Yunus, ayah 92).
In his excitement, he stood before the attendants and loudly said, "I have converted to Islam and believed in this Qu'ran"

Bucaille's Achievements:

Back to France, Maurice Bucaille completely changed and spent ten years only busy conducting a study as to how far the recently scientific facts match that mentioned in the Holy Qu'ran, trying to reassure himself that the Qu'ran has never contradicted with any single scientific fact, so that he eventually came up with the conclusion that Allah, SWT, said of the Qu'ran, "Untruth does not come up to it before (Literally: between its two hands) it nor from behind it; a successive sending down from (One) Ever-Wise, Ever-Praiseworthy.

These years which French Maurice spent conducting this study did bear fruit, after which he came up with a earth shaking book on the Holy Qu'ran which jolted the entire Western states, with the title of the book reading ," The Bible, The Qu'ran and Science, The Holy Scriptures Examined In The Light Of Modern Knowledge"

All of a sudden, the book sold out , and even hundreds of thousands of it were translated from French to Arabic, English, Indonesian, Persian, Turkish and German, extending to include nearly all East and West bookstores; one has come to see it with any Egyptian, Moroccan or Gulf person in the US.

Mad Reactions:

Some of the Jewish and Christian Clergy, out of malicious hatred, have come to counter the facts which the book established. However, what they wrote was nothing but a futile debate and desperate attempts through devilish suggestions. One of them, by name of Dr. William Campbell, authored a book titled, "Qu'ran and Holy Scripture, in the Light of History and Science" . In this book of his, he wandered and wandered but in the end he failed to achieve anything. More surprisingly, a Western scholar kept on reading the book authored by Bucaille in an attempt to counter it, and by the time he ended it, he had converted to Islam and openly uttered the two parts of the Sahabah!

In the preface of his book, Maurice Bucaille said," These scientific areas which Qu'ran established to the exclusion of other Scriptures filled me with deep surprise early on, since it never struck my mind to see such a large amount of scientific issues in such a variable and accurate way that they are a mirror image of what has recently been discovered in a book which has existed for more than 13 centuries.!!

He also said," First, I studied the Holy Qu'ran in a subjective and unbiased way, in an attempt to find by myself that the Qu'ran texts and the givens of the modern science match and do not conflict. Before this study, I earlier knew, through the translated versions of the Qu'ran, that the Qu'ran stated so many natural phenomena. Thanks to the in -depth study of the Arabic text , I managed to gather a list of scientific signs in the Qu'ran, after which I realized that the Qu'ran contains no refutable ayahs, nor did I see scientific ayahs in the Qu'ran which contradict with the recently discovered facts. In the same subjective and unbiased way of research, I scrutinized the Old Testament and Holy Scriptures. Concerning the Old Testament, I needed not go further after I read the Exodus and found no harmony between its texts and the decided scientific givens in our age. Concerning the Holy Scriptures, one can easily read a text in Matthew Gospel which is in stark contrast with that in Luca, and that the latter presents us with matters which does not absolutely go with the modern science as to Man's life on earth"
Dr. Maurice Bucaille also said, "Anyone who reads the Qu'ran for the first time sees a book which abounds with accurate and easy –to- understand scientific subjects. While one fails to find any contradiction or errors in the Qu'ran, the current Torah abounds with fatal scientist errors. This prompts us to say that if the author of this Qu'ran was a human, then how did he write about facts which never belonged to his age!?"

His book The Bible, The Qu'ran and Science, The Holy Scriptures Examined In The Light Of Modern Knowledge was such a marvelous piece of writing that, in the year 1988, the French Academy awarded him its prize in history.

Read More »

The Story Of A Jew Who Islamized Millions Of People.

Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 21, 1433 A.H, Thursday, March 15, 2012

Somewhere in France around fifty years ago, there was a 50-year-old Turkish man, named Ibrahim. He was an old man who sold foods in a food store. The store was located in an apartment where one of its occupants was a Jewish family who had a 7 year old son named 'Jad'.

Jad the Jewish child came to the shop which Ibrahim operated almost every day to buy household needs. Every time he wanted to leave the shop –and he thought that Ibrahim was off guard– Jad always took a piece of chocolate belonging to Ibrahim without his permission.

One day after shopping, Jad forgot to take a piece of chocolate before going out of the shop, then all of a sudden, Ibrahim called him and told him that he had forgotten to take a piece of chocolate as usual. Jad was shocked, because he thought Ibrahim was not aware of what he did all these time. He immediately apologized and was afraid that Ibrahim would report about his actions to his parents.

Ibrahim then answered: "Never mind, what's important is that you promise not to take anything without permission, and any time you want to get out of here, take a piece of chocolate, it is all yours!" Jad happily agreed.

Time passed, and the years changed, and the Muslim Ibrahim now became just like a father and best friend to Jad, the Jewish kid.

It had become a habit for Jad when facing a problem that he would always came to Ibrahim for consultation. And every time Jad finished telling his story, Ibrahim always took out a book from the drawer, gave it to Jad and then told him to open it at random. After Jad had opened it, Ibrahim then read two sheets thereof, closed it and started giving advices and solutions to Jad's problems.

Some years had passed and such were the days spent by Jad with Ibrahim, an old Turkish Muslim and not highly educated.

14 years passed by, now Jad had become a gallant young man who was 24 years old then, while Ibrahim at that time was 67 years old.

Ibrahim eventually died, but before he died, he had kept a box which he entrusted to his children, where a book was placed in that box which he always read every time Jad had a consultation with him. Ibrahim willed so that his children would give the book as a gift to Jad, a Jewish youth.

Jad only found out about the death of Ibrahim when his son conveyed the will to give a box to Jad. Jad then felt shaken and very sad with the news, because Ibrahim was the one who, all these while, gave the solutions to all his problems, and Ibrahim was the only true friend for him.

Days passed, every time struck by problems, Jad always remembered Ibrahim. Now he just left behind a box. The box that he had always opened and kept inside it was a book which Ibrahim used to read often every time he came to him.

Jad then tried to open the pages of the book, but the book contains writings in Arabic, whereas he could not read it. Then he went to one of his friends who was a Tunisian and asked him to read two sheets from the book. Exactly as was the custom of Ibrahim before, who always asked him to open the book at random when he came for a consultation.

That Tunisian friend then read and explained the meaning of the two sheets that he had showed. And apparently, what was read by his friend, precisely nailed into the problem faced by Jad at that time. Then Jad told about the problem that he was facing, and his Tunisian friend gave a solution according to what he read from the book in question.

Jad was stunned and in shock, then with full of curiosity he asked: "What is this book?!"

He answered: "This is Al-Qur'an, the Holy Book of the Muslims!"

Jad was a bit in disbelief, at the same time felt amazed.

And then Jad asked again: "How to be a Muslim?"

His friend answered: "By uttering the Shahadah and following the Shari'ah!"

After that, and without a feeling of doubt, Jad then uttered the Shahadah, thus he now became a Muslim!

Jadullah A Muslim

Now Jad had already become a Muslim, and then he changed his name to Jadullah Al-Qur'ani as an expression of reverence for the Qur'an that is so special and able to answer all his life problems over the years. And since then, he had decided to spend the rest of his life to be at the service of spreading the teachings of the Qur'an.

Jadullah then began to study the Qur'an, as well as understanding its contents, continued by doing da'wah in Europe to the point that he succeeded in converting to Islam six thousands Jews and Christians.

One day, Jadullah opened up the pages of the Qur'an which was a gift from Ibrahim. Suddenly he found a sheet bearing the world map. When his eyes were fixed on the image of the African continent, and appeared on it was an inscribed signature of Ibrahim and under that signature was written the verse:

((اُدْعُ إِلَى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ...!!))

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction!!..." (QS. An-Nahl; 125)

He was then convinced that this was a will from Ibrahim and he resolved to carry it out.

After some time, Jadullah left Europe and went to do da'wah in the African countries, including Kenya, southern part of Sudan (where a majority of its populations are Christian), Uganda, as well as the surrounding countries. Jadullah managed to convert more than 6,000,000 people from the tribe of Zolo, this is from one tribe alone, not to mention the other tribes.

End of Jadullah's Life

Jadullah Al-Qur'ani, a genuine Muslim, an real da'ie, spent the 30 years of his age, since his conversion to Islam, to carry out da'wah in the arid African countries and managed to convert millions of people.

Jadullah died in 2003 where had been ill earlier. At that time he was 45 years old and he died in times of doing da'wah. 

The Story Has Not Finished

The mother of Jadullah Al-Qur'ani was a fanatic Jew, she was an educated woman and a lecturer in one of the higher institutions. Her mother only converted to Islam in 2005, two years after Jadullah had died, i.e. at 70 years of age.

The mother narrated that –when her son was still alive– she spent 30 years doing her utmost to make her son return to Judaism by various ways, with all her experience, establishment of knowledge and ability, however, she could not influence her son to return to Judaism. Whereas Ibrahim, an old and uneducated Muslim, was able to soften his heart to embrace Islam, this is because Islam is the only true religion.

Then the question is : "Why did Jad the Jewish child embrace Islam?"

Jadullah Al-Qur'ani told that Ibrahim, whom he knew for 17 years, never called him with words: "Hey kuffar!" or "Hey Jew!" in fact Ibrahim never even said: "Come into the religion of Islam!"

Imagine, for 17 years, Ibrahim never even once taught him about religion, about Islam or about Judaism. A simple Muslim elder never invited him to discuss about religious issues. But he knew how to lead the heart of a child, so as to be bound with the akhlaq of Al-Qur’an.

And then from the testimony of Dr. Safwat Hijazi (one of the famous Egyptian da'ies) who at one time had joined a seminar in London in discussing about the problem of Darfur, as well as the solution to handling the Christianization, where he met with the leader of one of the tribes of Zolo. When asked if he converted to Islam through Jadullah Al-Qur’ani, he asnwered; No! But he embraced Islam through someone who has been Islamized by Jadullah Al-Qur'ani.

Subhanallah, How many more people will convert to Islam through the people who have been Islamized by Jadullah Al-Qur’ani. And Jadullah Al-Qur'ani himself embraced Islam through the hand of an old and uneducated Turkish Muslim man, but was having an akhlaqthat is sublime and pure.

Such was the story about Jadullah Al-Qur'ani, this is a true story that this writer obtained and then translated from the journal ofAlmarhum (the late) Sheikh Imad Iffat who is nicknamed as "The Sheikh of the Egyptian Revolutionaries". He was an ulama' of Al-Azhar and a member of the Fatwa Institution of Egypt, who was shot shaheed (insha Allah) in an incident in Cairo on Friday, 16th December 2011.

This true story deserves to be reflected collectively by us in the times of fitnah like today. At a time when a lot of people do not heed the way of the Qur'ani Da'wah anymore. Easily declare kafir, well-versed in reviling, claiming others to have gone astray, pronouncing them as bid'ah, cursing, spreading fitnah, whereas they are fellow Muslims.

In the past, our da'ies had struggled tooth and nail to spread Tawheed and Islamize many non-Muslims, but why today, the people who are already Muslim are declared as kafir instead and accused of shirk? Aren't we obliged to judge something on what is visible only? While in the matter of batin (inner things) let Allah judge it afterward. We are not commanded at all to split the breast of every mankind so as to know the level of iman owned by everyone.

Let's reflect again on surah Thaha verse 44 i.e. the commandment of Allah SWT to Prophet Musa and Harun –'alaihimassalam– when they would go out to conduct da'wah on Fir'aun. Allah says: 

((فَقُولاَ لَهُ قَوْلاً لَّيِّناً لَّعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَى))

"And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."

Imagine, Fir'aun who was clearly kafir la'natullah, but at the time of da'wah on such a person we still have to use gentle words. So do we, who are living in today's world more Islamic than Prophet Musa and Prophet Harun? Or is there anyone today who is more kafirthan Fir'aun that even the Qur'an records his kufr until today? What is then the reason for us to not use da'wah with the method of Al-Qur'an? Namely with Hikmah (Wisdom), good Advices and Discussions with strong arguments, but remained polite and mannered?

Therefore, what we need to take heed in da'wah is that, what should we do so that this truth of Islam can be easily conveyed? Due to that, if now we find someone who is kafir, it is possible that at the end of his life, Allah would give hidayah to him so that he will convert to Islam. Hadn't Umar bin Khattab also been hostile towards Rasulullah in the beginning? Yet, Allah willed otherwise, thus Umar then received hidayah and eventually embraced Islam. So if now there is someone who is Muslim, it could be that at the end of his life, Allah would remove the hidayah from him so that he dies in the state of kafir. Na'udzubillah tsumma Na'udzubillahi min Dzalik.

For behold, the first sin committed by Iblis is arrogance and haughtiness, as well as feeling the self holier so much so that he refused to receive Allah's truth by prostrating (due to respect) to Prophet Adam –'alaihissalam–. Due to that, it could be that Allah would remove the hidayah from a Muslim with a high heart (prideful) and then give it to a non-Muslim with a humble heart. Nothing is impossible for Allah!

Let us preserve this aqeedah of Islam that we are embracing, and don't ever sneer or undermine the aqeedah of others who have also embraced Islam, as well as professing Tawheed. We are brothers in Islam. It is good to remind each other, mutually protecting theaqeedah of fellow Muslims is better. Let us always struggle shoulder to shoulder for the sake of good things only.

Wallahu Ta'ala A'la Wa A'lam Bis-Sawab. 

The author is a student of Islamic Law Concentration Al-Azhar University Of Cairo's License Program.

Photo: Muslims of South Africa.

(arrahmah.com)

Translated and Submitted by a Mujahid

Theunjustmedia.Com

Read More »

Why ARE so many modern British career women converting to Islam?

Why ARE so many modern British career women converting to Islam?

Tony Blair’s sister-in-law announced her conversion to Islam last weekend. Journalist Lauren Booth embraced the faith after what she describes as a ‘holy experience’ in Iran. 

She is just one of a growing number of modern British career women to do so. Here, writer EVE AHMED, who was raised as a Muslim before rejecting the faith, explores the reasons why.

Rejecting her faith: Writer Eve Ahmed was raised a Muslim

Much of my childhood was spent trying to escape ­Islam. 

Born in London to an English mother and a ­Pakistani Muslim father, I was brought up to follow my father’s faith without question. 

But, privately, I hated it. The minute I left home for university at the age of 18, I abandoned it altogether. 

As far as I was concerned, being a Muslim meant hearing the word ‘No’ over and over again. 

Girls from my background were barred from so many of the things my English friends took for granted. Indeed, it seemed to me that almost anything fun was haram, or forbidden, to girls like me. 

There were so many random, petty rules. No whistling. No chewing of gum. No riding bikes. No watching Top Of The Pops. No wearing make-up or clothes which revealed the shape of the body. 

No eating in the street or putting my hands in my pockets. No cutting my hair or painting my nails. No asking questions or answering back. No keeping dogs as pets, (they were unclean). 

And, of course, no sitting next to men, shaking their hands or even making eye contact with them.

These ground rules were imposed by my father and I, therefore, assumed they must be an integral part of being a good Muslim. 

Small wonder, then, that as soon as I was old enough to exert my independence, I rejected the whole package and turned my back on Islam. After all, what modern, liberated British woman would choose to live such a life? 

Well, quite a lot, it turns out, including Islam’s latest surprise convert, Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth. And after my own break with my past, I’ve followed with fascination the growing trend of Western women choosing to convert to Islam. 

Broadcaster and journalist Booth, 43, says she now wears a hijab head covering whenever she leaves home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque ‘when I can’.

She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom, and says: ‘It was a Tuesday evening, and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy.’ 

Before her awakening in Iran, she had been ‘sympathetic’ to Islam and has spent considerable time working in Palestine. ‘I was always impressed with the strength and comfort it gave,’ she says. 

How, I wondered, could women be drawn to a religion which I felt had kept me in such a lowly, submissive place? How could their experiences of Islam be so very different to mine? 

 

Convert: Lauren Booth, who is Cherie Blair's half sister, decided to convert to Islam after what she described as a holy experience in Iran

According to Kevin Brice from ­Swansea University, who has specialised in studying white conversion to Islam, these women are part of an intriguing trend. 

He explains: ‘They seek spirituality, a higher meaning, and tend to be deep thinkers. The other type of women who turn to Islam are what I call “converts of convenience”. They’ll assume the trappings of the religion to please their Muslim husband and his family, but won’t necessarily attend mosque, pray or fast.’

I spoke to a diverse selection of white Western converts in a bid to re-examine the faith I had rejected.

Women like Kristiane Backer, 43, a London-based former MTV presenter who had led the kind of liberal Western-style life that I yearned for as a teenager, yet who turned her back on it and embraced Islam instead. Her reason? The ‘anything goes’ permissive society that I coveted had proved to be a superficial void.

 

 

 

 

Changing values: Camilla Leyland, 32, pictured in Western and Muslim dress, converted to Islam in her mid-20s for 'intellectual and feminist reasons'

The turning point for Kristiane came when she met and briefly dated the former Pakistani cricketer and Muslim Imran Khan in 1992 during the height of her career. He took her to Pakistan where she says she was immediately touched by spirituality and the warmth of the people.

Kristiane says: ‘Though our relationship didn’t last, I began to study the Muslim faith and eventually converted. Because of the nature of my job, I’d been out interviewing rock stars, travelling all over the world and following every trend, yet I’d felt empty inside. Now, at last, I had contentment because Islam had given me a purpose in life.’

‘In the West, we are stressed for super­ficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God. It was a completely different value system. 

'In the West, we are stressed for super­ficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God'

'Despite my lifestyle, I felt empty inside and realised how liberating it was to be a Muslim. To follow only one god makes life purer. You are not chasing every fad.

‘I grew up in Germany in a not very religious Protestant family. I drank and I partied, but I realised that we need to behave well now so we have a good after-life. We are responsible for our own actions.’ 

For a significant amount of women, their first contact with Islam comes from ­dating a Muslim boyfriend. Lynne Ali, 31, from Dagenham in Essex, freely admits to having been ‘a typical white hard-partying teenager’. 

She says: ‘I would go out and get drunk with friends, wear tight and revealing clothing and date boys.

‘I also worked part-time as a DJ, so I was really into the club scene. I used to pray a bit as a Christian, but I used God as a sort of doctor, to fix things in my life. If anyone asked, I would’ve said that, generally, I was happy living life in the fast lane.’ 

But when she met her boyfriend, Zahid, at university, something dramatic happened. 

She says: ‘His sister started talking to me about Islam, and it was as if ­everything in my life fitted into place. I think, underneath it all, I must have been searching for something, and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled by my hard-drinking party lifestyle.’

Liberating: Kristiane Backer says being a Muslim makes her life purer

Lynne converted aged 19. ‘From that day, I started wearing the hijab,’ she explains, ‘and I now never show my hair in public. At home, I’ll dress in normal Western clothes in front of my husband, but never out of the house.’

With a recent YouGov survey ­concluding that more than half the ­British public believe Islam to be a negative influence that encourages extremism, the repression of women and inequality, one might ask why any of them would choose such a direction for themselves. 

Yet statistics suggest Islamic conversion is not a mere flash in the pan but a significant development. Islam is, after all, the world’s fastest growing religion, and white adopters are an important part of that story. 

‘Evidence suggests that the ratio of Western women converts to male could be as high as 2:1,’ says Kevin Brice. 

Moreover, he says, often these female ­converts are eager to display the ­visible signs of their faith — in particular the hijab — whereas many Muslim girls brought up in the faith choose not to. 

‘Perhaps as a result of these actions, which tend to draw attention, white Muslims often report greater amounts of discrimination against them than do born Muslims,’ adds Brice, which is what happened to Kristiane Backer.

She says: ‘In Germany, there is Islamophobia. I lost my job when I converted. There was a Press campaign against me with insinuations about all Muslims supporting ­terrorists — I was vilified. Now, I am a ­presenter on NBC Europe. 

 

‘I call myself a European Muslim, which is different to the ‘born’ Muslim. I was ­married to one, a Moroccan, but it didn’t work because he placed restrictions on me because of how he’d been brought up. As a European Muslim, I question ­everything — I don’t accept blindly.

‘But what I love is the hospitality and the warmth of the Muslim community. London is the best place in Europe for Muslims, there is wonderful Islamic ­culture here and I am very happy.’ 

For some converts, Islam represents a celebration of old-fashioned family values.

 

Ex-MTV Presenter Kristiane Backer with Mick Jagger in the late Eighties

‘Some are drawn to the sense of belonging and of community — values which have eroded in the West,’ says Haifaa Jawad, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, who has studied the white conversion phenomenon.

‘Many people, from all walks of life, mourn the loss in today’s society of traditional respect for the elderly and for women, for example. These are values which are enshrined in the Koran, which Muslims have to live by,’ adds Brice.

It is values like these which drew Camilla Leyland, 32, a yoga teacher who lives in Cornwall, to Islam. A single mother to daughter, Inaya, two, she converted in her mid-20s for ‘intellectual and feminist reasons’.

She explains: ‘I know people will be surprised to hear the words ­“feminism” and “Islam” in the same breath, but in fact, the teachings of the Koran give equality to women, and at the time the religion was born, the teachings went against the grain of a misogynistic society.

Escape route: Former DJ Lynne Ali is happy to pray five times a day

‘The big mistake people make is by confusing culture with religion. Yes, there are Muslim cultures which do not allow women individual freedom, yet when I was growing up, I felt more oppressed by Western society.’

She talks of the pressure on women to act like men by drinking and ­having casual sex. ‘There was no real meaning to it all. In Islam, if you begin a relationship, that is a ­commitment of intent.’

Growing up in Southampton — her father was the director of Southampton Institute of Education and her mother a home economics teacher — Camilla’s interest in Islam began at school.

She went to university and later took a Masters degree in Middle East Studies. But it was while living and working in Syria that she had a spiritual epiphany. Reflecting on what she’d read in the Koran, she realised she wanted to convert.

Her decision was met with bemusement by friends and family. 

‘People found it so hard to believe that an educated, middle-class white woman would choose to become Muslim,’ she says. 

While Camilla’s faith remains strong, she no longer wears the hijab in public. But several of the women I spoke to said strict Islamic dress was something they found empowering and liberating.  

Lynne Ali remembers the night this hit home for her. ‘I went to an old friend’s 21st birthday party in a bar,’ she reveals. ‘I walked in, wearing my hijab and modest clothing, and saw how ­everyone else had so much flesh on display. They were drunk, slurring their words and dancing provocatively.

‘For the first time, I could see my former life with an outsider’s eyes, and I knew I could never go back to that.

 

‘I am so grateful I found my escape route. This is the real me — I am happy to pray five times a day and take classes at the mosque. I am no longer a slave to a broken society and its expectations.’ 

Kristiane Backer, who has written a book on her own spiritual journey, called From MTV To Mecca, believes the new breed of modern, independent Muslims can band together to show the world that Islam is not the faith I grew up in — one that stamps on the rights of women. 

She says: ‘I know women born Muslims who became disillusioned an d rebelled against it. When you dig deeper, it’s not the faith they turned against, but the culture. 

'Rules like marrying within the same sect or caste and education being less important for girls, as they should get married anyway —– where does it say that in the Koran? It doesn’t. 

‘Many young Muslims have abandoned the “fire and brimstone” version they were born into have re-discovered a more spiritual and intellectual approach, that’s free from the cultural dogmas of the older generation. That’s how I intend to spend my life, showing the world the beauty of the true Islam.’ 

While I don’t agree with their sentiments, I admire and respect the women I interviewed for this piece. 

They were all bright and educated, and have thought long and hard before choosing to convert to Islam — and now feel passionately about their adopted religion. Good luck to them. And good luck to Lauren Booth. But it’s that word that sums up the difference between their experience and mine — choice.

Perhaps if I’d felt in control rather than controlled, if I’d felt empowered rather than stifled, I would still be practising the religion I was born into, and would not carry the burden of guilt that I do about rejecting my father’s faith.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1324039/Like-Lauren-Booth-ARE-modern-British-career-women-converting-Islam.html#ixzz2gJ15KTt9 

Read More »

Umar Rao From RSS - Why I Embrace-Islam

Umar Rao, Being a hater of Islam that is now Muslim

Muhammed Umar Rao initially hated Muslims. However, after reading the Koran, the Indian man was actually found what he was looking for this, which eventually led to a major decision is taken. Rao decided to embrace Islam at the age of fairly still a teenager, which is about 18 years. "I feel blessed with the religion of Allah," he said crisply.

Derived from the Brahman caste middle-class family, since childhood, Rao was educated in the teachings and values ​​of Hinduism. This religious education he obtained directly from the guidance of one of his maternal uncle. While the extended family is known as a family who hated Muslims. Therefore, not surprisingly, he grew into a Hindu fanatic.

At a young age, Rao joined one of the largest Hindu nationalist political groups in India, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In India, the RSS is known as a hard-line Hindu groups who hated the Muslims there. "I always spread hatred against Islam, including in a public space though," he said. One example is Rao often tighten the volume of music that was enjoyed when a voice call to prayer.

His introduction to Islam occurred when the mother asked him to work at a company whose owner was a Muslim during the summer holidays. Of course, the request is rejected Rao, considering that since childhood he had hated with a Muslim name. In order not to disappoint his parents, he then decided to fill summer holidays by working in a company run by non-Muslims.

However, Rao did not like the job. He then decided to go out and concentrate more on his studies after graduation in order to be able to get a better job. In contrast to Rao, mother and sister chose to work part time in the company of Muslims during the two months. They, he said, was very impressed with the owner of the company.

Seeing those close to him always praise the owner of the company, making more and hate Muslims Rao. However, driven by guilt because he could not be useful for the family, he decided to accept job offers given by her mother. The greater the hatred of Islam, when he knows many of the non-Muslim employees who worked at the company converted to Islam.

His anger against the company owner, he gave vent to the lesson that religion is the truest. From there then Rao began a study of comparative religion. And since then, to know more about Islam, Rao began reading English translations of the Qur'an.

It certainly brought a change in his life. "After reading it, I like being trapped in fear, doubt, and conscious of the fact that I had been doing was wrong. Religion which I believe has been proved to be only about imagination or myth and false stories, "he explained.

From there then came doubt in Rao. He then asked his parents, the people around him who he knew had met with God or ever make drawings and paintings of God. However, these people said that no one has ever seen God as much expressed in the Qur'an. This fact is even more undermined faith in the teachings of Hinduism. Stories about Ganesha, Chamundeswari, Rama, Sinta, and others no longer makes sense to him. "I can not imagine them as gods."

In fact, when she asked her parents why the teachings of the Vedas are clearly at variance with the gods is still running, the mother even scolded him and said he should have done what has been exemplified by their ancestors.

The next day, Rao read a verse in the Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah verse 170 which reads: "When it is said unto them, 'Follow what Allah has revealed,' they reply: '(No), but we only follow what we have found from the (deeds) of our forefathers'. (Whether they will follow as well, although their ancestors did not know any one, nor had a clue? "

His view then is also drawn to verse 134 of Surah Al-Baqarah that reads: "That was the last race, for him what he had earned and yours what did you try, and you will not be questioned about what they have done."

When reading the second verse, Rao was amazed because the explanations in the second verse of the Qur'an exactly as the questions he proposed to his mother. He felt tertohok by the second verse. He realized that for all the questions that had been residing in his head, it turns out the answer in the Qur'an.

Since then slowly, he began to break the habit of worshiping statues of Hindu gods and stop doing Pooja (ritual prayer in the Hindu-Red). "Since this includes shirk, and it is the only sin that will not be forgiven."

Furthermore, Rao began practicing the teachings of Islam, although it is still done by stealth. But gradually, this is not about Islam he can hide again from his extended family. Knowing this, Rao's family could not accept this new belief. Luckily he still has a sister who was also interested in Islam, and eventually his brother embraced Islam.

Together this sister, Rao finally decided to get out of the house, and live apart from their extended family. "For more than a year we were living without a job nor a permanent source of income. However, praise be to God, who allows us to go through all the tough times, "he said.

At this difficult time, said Rao, Allah Almighty has opened the doors of opportunity to him, according to the prayers during the time he prayed in each of the five daily prayers. Consequently, when the job offer came from industrial machinery firm, he delivered a proposal. However, he was forced to leave this job because of working hours that disrupt beribadahnya time.

Having been unemployed for almost a year, he finally decided to work as a teacher. Profession he lived until today. Even with incomes somewhat not so great, she feels grateful that God had answered her prayers.

As Allah says in the Qur'an Surah Al-Ankabut paragraph 2: "Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: 'We believe, and will not be tested."

Now, this young Indian, belonging to a very devout Muslim worship. He was originally a group of haters of Islam, now after carefully studying Islam, the religion he loved the Prophet Muhammad who brought this. In fact, when there is negative sentiment toward Islam among non-Muslims, Rao always be in the front guard and be an advocate. He believes Islam is a religion of peace and love, and for the glory of mankind.
http://effectivereligions.blogspot.ae/

Read More »