How and why do people embrace Islam?

People embrace Islam in the West (USA, Canada, UK, France and Germany), in the Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan), in Africa and the Far East (Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong) and many other countries all over the world.

According to Islam, there is only one revealed religion which has been revealed from the time of Adam until the last of the prophets, Mohammad (PBUH), yet it was revealed on stages. Consequently, the essential message of all the prophets was one and the same, Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:

“Verily, We have sent to every nation a messenger (saying), ‘Worship Allah and avoid false gods.”

All the Prophets that Allah has sent had one basic messages, for indeed the purpose of creation is only one, which is worshiping Allah. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an

“I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship.”

This message addressed a basic and essential need in human beings; the need to worship. Such basic need was created in all human beings at the time of Adam’s creation.

Man’s Natural Disposition : the Fitrah

As Allah made all human beings swear to His Godhood when He first created Adam, this oath is printed on the human soul even before it enters the fetus in the fifth month of pregnancy. So when a child is born, he has a natural belief in Allah. This natural belief is called in Arabic the fitrah. If the child was left alone, he would grow with the same faith and believe in Allah. But what happens is that all children get affected by their surroundings, whether directly or indirectly. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said that Allah said:

“I created My servants in the right religion but the devils made them go astray.”

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) also said:

“Each child is born in a state of ‘fitrah’, but his parents make him a Jew or a Christian. It is like the way an animal gives birth to a normal offspring. Have you noticed any (young animal) born mutilated before you mutilate them?”

And since the child’s body submits to the physical laws which Allah has put in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the belief that Allah is its Lord and Creator. However, his family friends, and his surroundings affect him, and as he grows up, he may find himself following this or that’s way of life.

The religion the child follows at early stages of his life (childhood) is one of custom and upbringing, and Allah does not punish him for this religion. However, by reaching maturity one starts differentiating between what’s right and what’s wrong, an adult must now follow the religion of knowledge and reason; Islam. At this point the devil starts doing his best and trying hard to encourage him to stay as he is ( encourage him to stay passive and not do any good deeds), or bring down. Evils are made pleasing to mankind and thus we live in a constant struggle between our fitrah and our desires till we find the right road.

If one chooses his fitrah, Allah will help him control his desires, even though it may take most of his life to do so; for example some people embraced Islam in their old age, yet it is never too late.

 

Part 2
People in all ages may be divided into two main groups with respect to their preparedness to receive the message:

1. Those searching for the truth who are dissatisfied with the religion followed by their contemporaries on one hand,

2. And those not searching. This second group may be further divided into those not searching because they are satisfied with their religion and those not searching because they have rejected belief in God. The second group has been a minority throughout history.

People usually tend to accept the cultural norms of their society without question. In Prophet Mohammad’s time, that minority was called the hunafaa’ . Most of them embraced Islam once they received the message. Very few however, due to tribal jealousies rejected the Islam message. Thus, the first group responded positively to the clear truth of revelation. On the other hand, the second group based their response on their trust in Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) character. For he was indeed truthful and honest throughout his life, therefore, there was not reason to doubt him being a Prophet.

1. The Role Model

First people who embraced Islam were from the Prophet’s (PBUH) household

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
‘Ali ibn Abi Talib
Zayd ibn Harithah

Afterwards the Prophet’s close friend and confidant joined them and embraced Islam too.

Their embracing Islam was partially a result of their direct contact with the Prophet (PBUH) and their unquestioned belief in him and his truthfulness due to their personal experience with him. This reason for conversion may be called the “role model.”

2. Da’wah to Islamic Monotheism (Tawheed)

The next five figured embraced Islam with the help of Abu Bakr’s invitation.

‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan
Az-Zubayr ibn al- ‘Awwam
‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf
Sa ‘ad ibn Abi Waqqas
Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullah

In their case, embracing Islam was a result of them to introducing the message of Islam and calling them to embrace it. Here the reason may be generally called the “Da’wah”( calling for Islam)

3. Truth Seekers
Among the converts was ‘Amr ibn ‘Absah who had rejected the idolatry of his people and went on his search for the truth. Same case was with Salman al-Farisi who journeyed from Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity to Islam. The reason for the conversion of those companions of the Prophet (PBUH) and others like them may be called “truth seekers”.

4. Reading the Qur’an

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab’s embracing Islam was as a result of his hearing the Prophet (PBUH) recite Surrah al-Haaqqah. The Najashi’s was due to his hearing Surrah Maryam. These and others like them may be referred to as those who embraced Islam as a result if “Reading the Qur’an”.

5. Moreover Islam reached out to the Far East countries through Muslim businessmen and salesmen who went there for business, their ethics in business dealings and their honesty encouraged people to embrace Islam, and so we have lots of Muslims at these countries, like Thailand. So Islam wasn't spread with the power of sword, as some anti-Muslims claim. It was through presenting the true image and nature of this fine religion that made people want to embrace Islam.

Different reasons behind embracing Islam were almost the same in all ages. They are not limited to time periods, but can be found from the earliest of times until the present. Those involved in propagating the religion and inviting others to Islam, must familiarize themselves with these and other factors in order to develop the correct strategies to deal with them.

The other major problem that Muslims face, especially in western societies, is the absence of a Muslim community to support their families, their children often leave Islam by the time they graduate from high school. Consequently, among the da’wah strategies necessary is the development of Muslim schools to preserve the identity of Muslim children of the converts.

 

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