[NH] Believe It or Not: You were Born Muslim!!!!!!!!

Believe It or Not: You were Born Muslim

Believe It or Not: You were Born Muslim! Believe It or Not: You were
Born Muslim! What would you call a religion whose beliefs, practices
and followers are being bashed and bad-mouthed in practically every
sphere of activity, in almost every corner of the globe, yet it
attracts ever-increasing numbers of people? A Paradox? A Miracle ? Or
simply, The Truth: Islaam. The fact that Islaam is the fastest growing
religion in the world today, is proof that our Creator has taken it
upon Himself to perfect the Truth that He sent all His prophets and
messengers with -- from Aadam [AS] to Muhammad [SAW]. Studies
conducted in the West show that the sheer number of new Muslims is
changing the demographic profile of countries all over the world, and
not all of them are born into Muslim families. With some 6 million
adherents in the United States, Islam is said to be the nation's
fastest-growing religion. One expert estimates that 25,000 people a
year become Muslims in this country; some clerics say they have seen
conversion rates quadruple since Sept 11. Ironically for a religion
that is routinely bashed for "subjugating" and "oppressing" its female
followers, the number of female reverts to Islaam outnumber the males
4:1! The fact that more and more people are finding their way to
Islaam, notwithstanding the relentless propaganda, deliberate
misinformation and outright prejudice against it, never ceases to
amaze me. How do these people navigate in the darkness to find the
light of Islaam in spite of all the obstacles in the way? The answer
is that our Creator has granted each one of us a guiding light -- a
pure, undefiled innate nature called the fitrah. Unlike Christians who
believe in the doctrine of Original Sin and assert that each baby is
born tainted with the sin of Adam's disobedience to God, Muslims
believe that every child is born into a state of purity where it
recognizes its Creator and is naturally subservient to His laws. In
his book The Fundamentals of Islaamic Monotheism, Abu Ameenah Bilaal
Philips writes: Just as a child's body submits to the physical laws
which Allaah has put in nature, its soul also submits naturally to the
fact that Allaah is its Lord and Creator. But its parents try to make
it follow their own way and the child is not strong enough in the
early stages of its life to resist or oppose its parents. The religion
which the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing
and Allaah does not hold it to account for this religion. When the
child matures in youth and clear proofs of the falsehood of its
religion are brought to it, the adult must now follow the religion of
knowledge and reason. At this point the devils try their best to
encourage him to stay as he is or to go further astray. Evils are made
pleasing to him and he must now live in the midst of a struggle
between his innate pure nature and his desires in order to find the
right road. If he chooses to follow his innate nature, his fitrah,
Allaah will help him overcome his desires even though it may take most
of his life to escape, for many people enter Islaam in their old age.
The Qur'aan also points to this phenomenon, where every soul that has
been created is asked Who their Lord is, and they testify that it is
none other than Allaah before they are born into the world. When your
Lord drew forth from the loins of the children of Aadam their
descendants and made them testify concerning themselves. Saying: Am I
not your Lord? They said: "Yes, we testify to it." (This) in case you
say on the Day of Judgement, "We were unaware of this." Or in case you
say: It was our ancestors who made partners (with Allaah) and we are
only their descendants…[Surah Al-A'raaf 7:172-173] Explaining this
verse, the Prophet [SAW] said: When Allaah created Aadam [AS] , He
took a covenant from him …then He extracted from him all of his
descendants who would be born until the end of the world, generation
after generation and spread them out in front of Him in order to take
a covenant from them. He spoke to them face to face saying: Am I not
your Lord? And they all replied: Yes, we testify to it. Allaah then
explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He was their
Creator and the only true God worthy of worship. He said: That was in
case you (mankind) should say on the Day of Resurrection, "Surely we
were unaware of all this. We had no idea that You were our
God." [Silsilah al ahadeeth as Saheehah, Narrated by ibn Abbaas,
collected by Imaam Ahmad] This is the reason why people who adopt
Islaam are said to revert instead of convert, because they are going
back to their original nature -- the one they were naturally created
with -- which is automatically aligned with the Universe, its Creator
and His Laws; as opposed to simply exchanging one set of beliefs for
another. Reverts to Islaam testify that this inner inclination to
search for the Truth, to know and follow it is a major factor in their
adopting the faith. It is interesting to see some of the reasons cited
by reverts for adopting Islaam: Islaamic Monotheism "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: God, the Son of
God, and the Holy Ghost. When I became a Muslim, I received a letter,
which 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 [who wrote that letter] thought that I no longer believed in
God, not knowing that when Jesus had begun to preach, he stated the
unity of God and he never claimed to be His son. [Lord Headley al-
Farooq; British diplomat, engineer] An answer for every question: "I
would always search for causes and purposes for everything. I would
anticipate logical explanations for them. On the other hand, the
explanations provided by priests and other Christian men of religion
did not satisfy me. Most of the time, instead of giving satisfactory
answers to my questions, they would dismiss the matter with evasive
prevarications such as, "We cannot understand these things. They are
divine secrets" and "They are beyond the grasp of the human mind."
Upon this I decided to study, on the one hand, Oriental religions, and
on the other hand, books written by famous philosophers. The books
written by these philosophers always dealt with such subjects as
protoplasms, atoms, molecules, and particles, and did not even touch
on reflections such as "What becomes of the human soul?" "Where does
the soul go after death?" "How should we discipline our souls in this
world?" The Islamic religion, on the other hand, treated the human
subject not only within the corporeal areas, but also along the
spiritual extensions. Therefore, I chose Islam not because I had lost
my way, or only because Christianity had incurred my displeasure, or
as a result of sudden decision, but, on the contrary, after very
minutely studying it and becoming thoroughly convinced about its
greatness, singularity, solemnity and perfection [Muhammad Alexander
Russell Webb; American diplomat, author] Direct relationship with
one's Creator: Now I realize I can get in direct contact with God,
unlike Christianity or any other religion. As one Hindu lady told me,
"You don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use these
objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she was saying was that
in order to reach God, one has to create associates, that are idols
for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. [Yusuf Islaam,
formerly Cat Stevens] Universality: Islam is a religion that belongs
not only to the Arabs but to the entire humanity. This universal
quality presents a sharp contrast with the Judaic religion, whose holy
book always refers to the God of Israel. One more thing that I love in
Islam is that this religion recognizes all the prophets, makes no
distinction between them and treats the believers of other religions
with compassion. [Mahmud Gunnar Ahmad, Swedish Muslim] Absolute
equality before God, extended brotherhood: There were tens of
thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all
colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were
all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and
brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never
could exist between the white and non-white. America needs to
understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from
its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim
world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in
America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was
removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before
seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together,
irrespective of their color. You may be shocked by these words coming
from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced,
has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously
held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not
too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been
a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as
new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an
open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in
hand with every form of intelligent search for truth. During the past
eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same
plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while
praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the
bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin
was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the
white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black
African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana. We were truly all the
same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the
white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white
from their attitude. [Letter written from Makkah, by Malcolm X] Purity
of prayer: If I were asked what impressed me most in the religion of
Islam, I would probably say the prayers, because prayers in
Christianity are used wholly in begging God (through Jesus Christ) to
grant worldly favours, whereas in Islam they ar used to give praise
and thanks to Almighty God for all His blessings since He knows what
is necessary for our welfare and grants us what we need without our
asking it. [Cecilia Mahmuda Cannolly, Australian Muslim] Women's
rights and status: No doubt, influenced by the usual condemnation of
Islam from Christian pulpits on the subject, I picked on polygamy. At
last I thought I had something; obviously Western monogamy was an
improvement on this old system. I talked of it to my Muslim friend. He
illustrated with the aid of newspaper articles how much true monogamy
there was in England, and convinced me that a limited polygamy was the
answer to the secret unions that are becoming so distressingly common
in the West. My own common sense could see that, particularly after a
war, when women of a certain age group far outnumber men, a percentage
of them are destined to remain spinsters. Did God give them life for
that? I recollect that on the radio programme known as `Dear Sir' an
unmarried English girl had called for lawful polygamy, saying she
would prefer a shared married life rather than the loneliness to which
she seemed to be destined. In Islam no one is forced into a polygamous
marriage, but in a perfect religion, the opportunity must be there to
meet those cases where it is necessary. [Mavis B Jolly, UK] Belief in
the Qur'aan as Divine Revelation: I read as much of the Qur'aan as I
could. I was immersed in it. As I read the verses in English, I
repeated to myself over and over again, this is what I have always
thought and believed. What kind of book was this? Before long I was
reading the book and crying, and reading and crying... it was as if
something had overtaken me... I forgot what I was looking for in
particular, however when I came upon the verses in Surah Baqarah
122-141 regarding Prophet Ibrahim (AS) I had found my answer. I had
been searching for Isma'il (as), son of Prophet Ibrahim and his wife
Hajarah, who had been missing from the Hebrew brothers story. In those
verses I found the truth of religion... They say: Become Jews or
Christians if ye would be guided (to salvation). Say thou: Nay! (I
would rather) the religion of Abraham the True, and he joined not gods
with Allah. Say ye: We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to
us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that
given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) the Prophets from
their Lord; We make no difference between one another of them: and we
submit to Allah." (2:135-136) As I continued to read and cry, I became
intent upon finding someone who could connect me with others who
believed in this book! [K H Abdul Lateef, USA] The personal example of
the Prophet Muhammad [SAW]: I accepted Islam because I admired the
Prophet Muhammad.[SAW]. I had quite a number of Muslim friends in
Zanzibar, who gave me Islamic books, which I read in secrecy from my
family. I became a Muslim despite the remonstrances of my family and
the oppressions of the priests of Parsee religion, which had been my
religion until that time. I held fast to my religion and resisted
against all sorts of threats. Now I love Allaah and His last Prophet
Muhammad [SAW] more than my life [Faruq B Karai, Zanzibar] Islaam
withstands scrutiny and encourages reasoning: Instead of asking a
follower to believe in its precepts just "because" or someone asks
them to, Islaam encourages people to think for themselves, reflect on
the signs of God in Creation and within their own selves. Little
wonder then that a sizable number of reverts are thinking people:
scientists, astronomers, philosophers, doctors. As created beings who
can neither grant life nor ward off death, we owe it to ourselves and
The One Who Created Us to discover the Truth, to follow it and to
facilitate others to do the same.

If you wish to know more about Islam, we prefer to visit
the following websites:

http://www.islam-guide.com

http://www.islamhouse.com/s/9661

http://www.todayislam.com

http://www.thekeytoislam.com

http://www.islamland.com

http://islamtomorrow.com

http://www.thisistruth.org

http://www.quran-m.com/firas/en1

http://kaheel7.com/eng

http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran

http://www.rasoulallah.net/v2/index.aspx?lang=e

http://www.prophetmuhammed.org

http://youtubeislam.com

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