Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| mujaahid |
| 01/25/02 at 03:53:27 |
| The Entire World Is Asking: What Is Islam?! According to various reports in the Arab press, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a wave of Americans have converted to Islam since Sept. 11. 'Alaa Bayumi, director of ArabAffairs at the Council for American-Islamic Relations, wrote in the London daily Al-Hayat that "non-Muslim Americans are now interested in getting to know Islam. There are a number of signs. ... Libraries have run out of books on Islam and the Middle East... English translations of the Qur'an head the American best-seller list. ... The Americans are showing increasing willingness to convert to Islam since Sept. 11. ... Thousands of non-Muslim Americans have responded to invitations to visit mosques, resembling the waves of the sea (crashing on the shore) one after another. ... All this is happening in a political atmosphere that, at least verbally, encourages non-Muslim Americans' openness towards Muslims in America and in the Islamic world, as the American president has said many times in his speeches. " CAIR Chairman Nihad Awad told the Saudi paper 'Ukaz that "34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of Sept. 11, and this is the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there." According to Dr. Walid A. Fatihi, instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston has recently become a center of Islamic proselytizing aimed at Christians. On Sept. 22, 2001, Al-Fatihi sent a letter to the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, in which he described the unfolding of events since Sept. 11. "On Saturday, Sept. 15, I went with my wife and children to the biggest church in Boston, (Trinity Church in) Copley Square, by official invitation of the Islamic Society of Boston, to represent Islam by special invitation of the senators of Boston," wrote Fatihi. "Present were the mayor of Boston, his wife and the heads of the universities. There were more than 1,000 people there, with media coverage by one of Boston's main television stations. We were received like ambassadors. I sat with my wife and children in the front row, next to the mayor's wife. In his sermon, the priest defended Islam as a monotheistic religion, telling the audience that I represented the Islamic Society of Boston. After the sermon was over, he stood at my side as I read an official statement issued by the leading Muslim clerics condemning the incident (i.e., the attacks). The statement explained Islam's stance and principles, and its sublime precepts. Afterwards, I read Qur'an verses translated into English. ... These were moments that I will never forget, because the entire church burst into tears upon hearing the passages of the words of Allah! "Emotion swept over us," Fatihi continued. "One said to me: 'I do not understand the Arabic language, but there is no doubt that the things you said are the words of Allah.' As she left the church weeping, a woman put a piece of paper in my hand; on the paper was written: 'Forgive us for our past and for our present. Keep proselytizing to us.' Another man stood at the entrance of the church, his eyes teary, and said, 'You are just like us; no, you are better than us.'" Fatihi recounts the next day the Islamic Society of Boston issued an open invitation to the Islamic Center in Cambridge. "We did not expect more than 100 people, but to our surprise more than 1,000 people came, among them the neighbors, the university lecturers, members of the clergy, and even the leaders of the priests from the nearby churches, who invited us to speak on Islam," Fatihi wrote. "All expressed solidarity with Muslims. Many questions flowed to us. Everyone wanted to know about Islam and to understand its precepts. Of all the questions, not a single one attacked me; on the contrary, we saw (the people's) eyes filling with tears when they heard about Islam and its sublime principles. Many of them had never heard about Islam before. Well, they had heard about Islam only through the biased media. That same day, I was invited again to participate in a meeting in the church, and again I saw the same things. On Thursday, a delegation of 300 students and lecturers from Harvard visited the center of the Islamic Society of Boston, accompanied by the American Ambassador to Vienna. They sat on the floor of the mosque, which was filled to capacity. We explained to them the precepts of Islam, and defended it from any suspicions (promulgated in the media). I again read to them from the verses of Allah, and (their) eyes filled with tears. The audience was moved, and many asked to participate in the weekly lessons for non-Muslims held by the Islamic Center. ." Fatihi says on Sept. 21, the Muslims participated in a closed meeting with the governor of Massachusetts. They discussed introducing Islam into the school curriculum. He claims Gov. Jane Swift agreed to implement their plans. "These are only some of the examples of what happened and is happening in the city of Boston, and in many other American cities, during these days," Fatihi continued. "Proselytizing in the name of Allah has not been undermined, and has not been set back 50 years, as we thought in the first days after Sept. 11. On the contrary, the 11 days that have passed are like 11 years in the history of proselytizing in the name of Allah. I write to you today with the absolute confidence that over the next few years, Islam will spread in America and in the entire world, Allah willing, much more quickly than it has spread in the past, because the entire world is asking, 'What is Islam?!'" |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| ltcorpest1 |
| 01/25/02 at 16:43:57 |
| i am one of the americans who have taken a interest in Islam since 911. It has given me opportunity to talk to muslims that I would not have had before 911. But I have to tell you that through the interest come very much loathing and fear that I had not had before. I read through many of these posts and I wonder what type of people group this is. For an example I read the post about muslims praying for and possibly helping the murdered Christians in Pakistan. I thought what a Godly person this is, but all the responses were so negative. The debate was not on how to help these people but was the finer points of Islam tax to non muslims and that it is a waste of time caring about these people. I am not sure, who represents the majority opinion or the true Islam? Jesus Christ was especially critical of the pharissees just because of this reason, they could debate the finer points of the law and kept it completely, but had no heart for humanity whatsoever. The responses to the 1st post just really reminded me of this. I have not read the Koran (although I have a muslim friend who is supposed to be giving me one, someday i hope ( kinda taking a long time though) ) I had always admired Muslims before 911 for there keeping their traditions and following the law. But it seems they have such a hatred in their hearts for Jews and Christians even though they worship the same God. I have lots more questions and comments but I do not want to get too long winded, but as a Christian I want to let you know that me and my church pray for the muslim world and especially Afghanistan and the troubles they have gone through for such a long time. Thanks for your time reading this and may God bless |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| ltcorpest1 |
| 01/25/02 at 17:34:29 |
| oopps, loathing was not the word intended. Trepidation was the word i meant, since none of you believe in fruedian thought excuse my language. just one more thought. I just read Who's leading our jihad? by akbalkhan. This is a prime example of why there is fear of muslims. I would hope and pray that my religion would never take the route he seems to have taken. "never depair about the deaths they cause or suffer. Never talk down or disown their attempts at jihad." Kinda scary if you ask me or am I missing something. Did he take the Koran out of context that he quoted? or should I be worried that that is what it really says? |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| amal |
| 01/26/02 at 00:55:46 |
| Hi mike :) [quote] I had always admired Muslims before 911 for there keeping their traditions and following the law. But it seems they have such a hatred in their hearts for Jews and Christians even though they worship the same God [/quote] It think the key word here is "muslims" as opposed to islam. There's a big difference between the two! Muslims are just like any other people. They have the good and the bad among their ranks.Therefore, you cannot judge islam by how muslims act. The same goes for christians,jews,and any other religious communty in the world. There are some christians who are full of hate for other races and religions as surely as there are some muslims who do the same. People have different levels of knowledge and perceptions.It's really dangerous to assume that just because someone claims to be muslim that they have the adequate knowledge to speak for the religion. Unfortunately, there will always be those who project their own frustrations and whims to the religion and will take parts of the Qur'an out of context to justify their evil actions. The important thing is what does islam *say* about how muslims should relate to christians and jews? For that you need to read the Qur'an and books written by *knowledgeable* scholars. One note here is to be careful about the translations of the Qur'an.A translation is not the Qur'an and thus it will at best give an approximation to the real meaning as *understood* by the translator. Check out this[color=black] [url=http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl/YaBB.pl?board=madrasa&action=display&num=6622]thread[/url][/color] for an overview of the different translations that exist out there and which ones are more suitable for a person coming from a western background. You can also check [url=http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/Q_LP/ch4s5pre.htm#Social%20Relationships]this[/url] section of a book entitled "The lawful and Prohibited in Islam" by a renowned scholar of islam called Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qardawi. This particular part gives an overview of the nature of social relations between muslims and non-muslims in islam and the rights of non-muslims in an islamic state. The subject matter is vast but you can at least get a glimpse of what islam's true stance is on the issue at hand. Please, if you have any questions don't hesititate to post them on the board. If we can't answer them at least,insh'Allah, we can direct you to *relieable* sources where you can get your information. salam :) |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| humble_muslim |
| 01/25/02 at 17:57:07 |
| AA This board has been around for many years. Many DIFFERENT type of muslims come on this board, often with diverse opinions. I don't think you can look at one particluar post and refer to what is in that post as being the true Islam. The true Islam is NOT what is preached rherotically by our "amatuer scholars", but the true Islam is the example of Muhammed (SAW). If we look into his life, the amount of tolerance, compassion and humanity he showed to all people - muslim or non-muslim - is beyond belief. To give one example, there is a famous story of a Jewish woman who used to dump her trash onto the Prophet (SAW) as he was passing by. Now at that time, he was the head of the city he was living in. He did not have her arrested, or punish her. He showed patience. So much patience, that one day - when the woman did not dump the trash - he inquired about her. On finding that she was sick, he cleaned up her house for her. This is the TRUE Islam, and I encourage you to read more about this. |
| NS |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| amal |
| 01/26/02 at 00:49:39 |
| [quote] Did he take the Koran out of context that he quoted? or should I be worried that that is what it really says? [/quote] If you're refering to this: [quote] never depair about the deaths they cause or suffer. Never talk down or disown their attempts at jihad. [/quote] It's not from the Qur'an, rather the personal opinion of the poster. |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| se7en |
| 01/26/02 at 03:11:09 |
| Mike, The posts written on this board are *not* written by experts, scholars, or, for the most part, people who have even studied Islam formally in *any* form. We're just a group of people - both Muslim and non - that are sharing our experiences and thoughts about this faith. We come from a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, ethnicities, affiliations - and that is reflected in the diversity of our posts. You'll find here people with an incredibly beautiful, deep, and balanced understanding of Islam - and also people whose understanding of Islam may be slanted towards their own personal perspectives, may be narrow-minded due to their own personal prejudices, and may be hateful due to their own personal desire for vengeance. There are 1.6 billion Muslims the world over, and they are not all well versed in the teachings of Islam, or are of the purity of heart to inculcate them and to enact them properly. Amal said it best - we, like any other faith or tradition, have good and bad among us. You asked about finding out about "true Islam". Please do *not* take the words of people here as anything more than what they are - just one persons opinion. To find out the stance of *true* Islam, you gotta go to the sources - the Qur'an, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and from them, the teachings of the widely accepted scholars of our tradition. My advice to you would be some advice I heard from a brother who converted to Islam about thirty years ago, and who still has not quenched his thirst when it comes to learning more about this faith. He said, do not let *people* distract you from the source. People have their own personal faults, weaknesses, block-headedness, ignorance, narrow mindedness - and the source - the actual texts, the Qur'an, the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, these things we derive our faith from - have no such defeciencies, no such limitations. Aiite.. I didn't mean to go into lecture mode :) It's just that this is something really close to my heart. It really really kills me to see people speaking without it seems even *thinking* about what they're saying, where it's coming from, how true it is to the teachings of Islam, the consequences of their words. We don't have missionaries in Islam, but we're taught to be da'ees - literally, people who invite. It seems a lot of times we've become *anti* da'ees - literally pushing people *away* from Islam, instead of inviting people to the faith by laying open its beauty and perfection. We've moved so far away from the tradition of our prophet, peace be upon him, who spoke with such wisdom and foresight. Please do share more of your thoughts with us :) peace :) |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| momineqbal |
| 01/26/02 at 06:41:42 |
| [slm], Check out this site on some information on Islam ([url=http://www.islamtoday.com]Islam Today[/url]. The contact address there, if you email them they might be able to send you a free copy of a meaning of the Quran in english plus maybe some other literature. Take care |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| ltcorpest1 |
| 01/30/02 at 12:50:25 |
| thanks for the kind words and I was able to go to a few of the websites for more info. I do have a few more questions. Can i go to your synagogue (Or temple) not sure what it is called at any time? and I know this is mre deeply involved and maybe not as easy to answer. But what is the muslim view on heaven and who will go. Will all muslim go and only muslims? Is it based on what you do on earth and will good deeds only get you to heaven? What if a person is of another faith or has never heard of Islam. What happens to them? I read in one of the site you directed me to that Christians and Jews I think the Koran calls them people of the book and has a somewhat affinity toward them, Does that mean they have salvation over people that do not believe in one true God? anyways i know that is a lot of questions and would take a lot of answering, but you can pick one out if you like mike |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| Rashid |
| 01/30/02 at 18:11:47 |
| [slm] Hello Mike: I fail to understand, in another thread you posted some hateful comments about Islam and here you are asking questions about it. One of the things we are taught is not to mix the good with the bad. Asking questions is good, making blanket assumptions and hateful comments is not the best way to approach someone. [quote]Can i go to your synagogue (Or temple) not sure what it is called at any time?[/quote] It's properly called a masjid (place of prostration) or mosque in english. You *could* go at any time, however you might not find anyone there. The best times are at the prayer times (like morning or night prayer) and especially the Friday noon prayer (Jumuah) when it will be full. [quote]what is the muslim view on heaven and who will go.[/quote] The Prophet [saw] informed us that Heaven is a place that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no mind has ever imagined. It is simply beyond our limited understanding as human beings to define it. Allah speaks in the Qur'an about the rewards that are to be found there such as: gardens, rivers, fruits, righteous companions, everlasting peace and tranquility, and many more. Again, we cannot even imagine what Heaven is like, we only have a small idea from the Qur'an and the hadith. [quote]Is it based on what you do on earth and will good deeds only get you to heaven?[/quote] Our actions are judged by our intentions. A Muslims' actions should be based on the desire to please Allah alone. This combines the need to have faith in Allah AND do good deeds. [quote]what if a person is of another faith or has never heard of Islam. What happens to them?[/quote] Regarding the one of another faith, Allah makes it clear in the Qur'an that the only sin that will not be forgiven is to associate partners with him. This is the mercy of Allah, who can forgive a murderer, a rapist, a thief, etc. if such a person turns in sincere repentance to him and resolves never to commit the evil deed again, as well as the one who associates partners with Allah. The mercy of Allah is such that a person's sins can fill the whole earth and yet, if the person asks for forgiveness and resolves to stay away from commiting sins, that person will be forgiven. As for the one who has never heard of Islam, I've heard different opinions. However, in this day and age that would be a difficult thing! [quote]I think the Koran calls them people of the book and has a somewhat affinity toward them, does that mean they have salvation over people that do not believe in one true God?[/quote] They are called people of the book because they received a revelation before us (bible) and they are the closest in religion and thought to us. However, both of them innovated in religion and therefore are no longer valid. Allah in his mercy has perfected Islam (submission) and has chosen Islam as a religion and way of life for all of humanity. As always, if I have erred please do not hesitate to correct me. [wlm] |
| Re: 34'000 Americans convert after sept 11th |
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| ltcorpest1 |
| 01/30/02 at 18:30:18 |
| ab al-rashid, thanks for the quick response, I hope I did not offend all muslims by what i said, but I was trying to show that in the previous post that i quoted that the person who relegated 3 old religions to one derogatory sentence. All 3 of these religions were here before Islam and should be accorded some respect. I know that where I worship that many people actively seek God and his guidance. I know that many muslims worship God and try to honor him also. The context that i put it in is that if you want to put down other religions in the context of that particular post of killing innocent people, it is hard not to be upset at some comments. I am sure it is a heavy burden when people who claim the same faith as you have that much hate and callousness in their heart, just as when I see people who are supposedly Christians do the same ie: aryan nation and the like, who preach hate. |
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