Islam: The Fastest Growing Religion in the World

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Many people do not understand Islam, Muslims, or why Islam is the fastest growing religion on Earth. It's no secret that Islam is one of the most misunderstood and controversial topics in the current day and age. Yet every year in America alone between 30,000-100,000 people convert (such a wide range is used because conservative to liberal polls are both only so accurate). The more the media portrays Islam, both good and bad, the more it has peaked people's interests. Below are a couple of quotes from the website http://www.geocities.com/ on some surprising facts on Islam in America and why it's attracting so many women. It's estimated that for every man that converts in America, 4 women will do so.

In The Bible, Widows and Sisters do Not Inherit Any Property or Wealth, Only men do{Numbers 27:1-11}The Qur'an Abolished this male greediness { Qur'an 4:22} and God Protects All.

The Bible says "The Birth of a Daughter is a loss" {Ecclesiasticus 22:3}. The Qur'an says both are an Equal Blessing { Qur'an 42:49}

The Bible also asks Women to wear veils as in Islam {I Corinthians 11:3-10}, this lowers the chance of rape.

For many people these facts (and many more that can be found on that website and the links included) are unknown. And many people utterly refuse to believe these proofs provided. However, the facts speak for themselves. Throughout the world more and more people are embracing Islam, because when people learn the truth of the religion, the logic as well spirituality cannot be disproved nor argued with. Many famous people have converted to Islam from all walks of life from rappers to singers to politicians and their families.

Seek knowledge. Seek the truth. There is a reason that Islam is the fastest growing religion on Earth. God willing. In Sha Allah may Allah swt guide our blessed Ummah and guide those who seek the truth.

Pictures courtesy of Google

سلام عليكم
عبدالرحيم

My Journey to Islam Part 2

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Some would think that taking the shahada would be the end of the road on the journey to Islam. However, the shahda is only the beginning. After officially professing my faith in Islam came another obstacle; I had to tell me parents, who seperated and divorced when I was 4. My mother knew of my interest in Islam, and although she did not understand why I wanted to be a Muslim, she accepted it. Telling my father was an entirely different story.

My father came from a somewhat conservative, all-American background. He was raised in the Roman Catholic church and had very strict views on what was acceptable. We already had a difficult relationship, and I knew that telling him might break what we had. So I waited to tell him. I waited until I had garnered enough knowledge and courage to tell him. The response was worse than I had imagined. I became painted as this horrible family and religion traitor. What came next shocked me even more. Ridiculous insults to Islam,  as well as outrageous (but unfortunately common among western non-muslims) slurs and slanders to the Prophet Mohamedﷺ. I was in utter disbelief listening to my father condemn me and virtually kick me out of his life, refusing to speak to me for months. Unfortunately this also strained my relationship with my stepmother, brother, and my sister. I felt alienated from the world because I had already given up what I was comfortable doing (obviously for good reasons), been disconnected from the majority of my friends who were non Muslims, developed a strain in half my family and had been virtually disowned by the other half.

But Alhamdulillah, Allah guided me through these first hardships. I made new friends at the masjid, and started learning new things to occupy my time with. Instead of trying to go to the mall to steal clothes or pick up girls, I went to the masjid to pray and picked up the Qur'an.  Some of my friends still remained close, and my cousin began studying Islam as well. Another good friend of mine, named Tyler, had increasing curiosity into Islam. Frequently he would call me and ask me for advice and guidance spiritually. He told me how he didn't believe in Christianity but did believe in God.  So I started giving him da'wah. I gave him my old English copy of the Qur'an. Since I was new to Islam I didn't want to give him misinformation, so I taught him what I knew and I took him with me to the masjid. After a short amount of time studying together, and many countless hours he spent alone studying, he felt he was ready for his shahda. So we went to the masjid, only 8 months after I had reverted, and he took his shahada.

With an old friend now becoming a Muslim, it really helped to keep me on top of my deen. I was also making many new friends at school and at the masjid. Some of my old friends who tried to teach me Islam in the past suddenly became my new best friends. They started teaching me more than the basics. I started learning about the traditions, sayings, and lifestyle of RasulAllahﷺ. From there I started studying the hadiths on my own. Islam seemed more and more perfect the more I was learning about it. Although I had yet to give up all of my past ways, I was taking bounds and leaps towards living a life for Allah swt...

سلام عليكم
عبدالرحيم

My Journey to Islam part 1

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

For many years I always wondered what the purpose of life was. I was born a Catholic and raised as a Christian. I went to Bible class and Sunday school then shortly after went to the Sunday sermon. When I would listen to the sermon I tried to take myself to the story he was telling. Sometimes that was easy. When the focus was the old testament it seemed almost natural. Listening to the stories of Adam a.s. and Eve or the stories of Abraham a.s. and Isaac a.s. and Ishmael a.s. was easy and understandable. My confusion came in at the time of Jesus a.s. The Christians would portray Jesus a.s. as this humble healer and messenger of God. And then the next line would contradict this by stating that he is the son of God. Then there was talk of a holy spirit and the mother of God and on and on went these hypocrisies. I became frustrated by the lack of explanation of this. Was I to believe this with no evidence and it directly went against the laws Moses a.s. was given. My frustration turned to anger and from anger to total disbelief. I abandoned church and all forms of God worshipping. For many years I even abandoned God. My purpose of life was fulfillment of my wants and desires. Which was a downward spiral that left me spiritually broken and physically battered.

My craving for desires led me to do harm to others, to go and "hit licks", and many other devilish deeds. Eventually my acts landed me in juvenile detention. But the charges brought against me left everybody in the courtroom awe stricken. Charges of attempted terrorism and terroristic threats. I was then told by my attorney that my case might be thrown out of juvenile and integrated into the adult legal system. My life was crumbling in front of me. I felt trapped in a movie. There was no way that this was really happening. I hadn't even committed the original crime I was charged with, let alone terrorism. It was shortly after that I had a dream while still in the juvenile detention center. The dream seemed like a message. A simple, blatant, blaring message. I saw nothing but darkness. Then a small speck of light appeared. So I walked towards the light until I was overcome with light. Then I woke up. And all I wanted to do was find God and get my life back together. Since my dream Epiphany so to speak, I started making prayers to God. Just God. No Jesus or spirits or saints or priests. In a total 180 my charges became nothing more than threats of arson. I was given immediate release to be on probation for 6 months and monitored. Was this the power of prayer? After years of praying to others one prayer to the most high could result in this? I felt millions of tiny weights being lifted off my chest at the same time.

Since I was on house arrest I spent a lot of my free time studying different religions. I loved the peace and tranquility of Buddhism, but their theology seemed wrong. I liked the approach of Judaism in the aspect of God's oneness, but the sense of entitlement seems wrong for people who are suppose to love God. Then I came across Islam. I had some good high school friends who came from Somalia and had tried to teach me Islam in the past. Maybe that is something I should look into. So I did. I studied Islam for hours and hours. The history, the practices, the beliefs etc etc. The more I learned the more I loved the religion. The image I had seen portrayed by the media was totally wrong about this religion. I got an English copy of the Quran and I went to work. I finished the book from front to back in about a week. I became so engrossed in the religion I began neglecting my schoolwork (after I was released from house arrest).

After months of preparing I got the courage to ask some people to take me to the local mosque. I was quite schocked to learn there were many local mosques as well as a large number of Muslims all around me. Many kids I went to school with or rode the bus with, yet never once did I notice or bother to ask why they spoke Arabic or had names like Mohamed. I went to the mosque and immediately was surrounding by people of many different backgrounds, races, and cultures. But they all treated one another as though they were brothers and sisters. I also started to notice a small group of Americans standing there speaking in English. They saw me and one man said "Asalaamu alaikum" my response was "Hi. How are you?" Then I felt embarrassed. Months of studying and I let it slip to respond with Walaikum salaam. They laughed and asked me if I was new. I said yes. So they took me upstairs to talk to the Imam. He welcomed me and asked me why I want to be a Muslim. My answer was short and sweet (it took less time for me to summarize why then it will take to read this post). He understood and said " come back tomorrow with 3 other muslims" I was confused as to why he said that. But I listened. I came back the next day right after school with my friends and said the most important words of my life. The shahada. The testimony of all Muslims. The belief and acceptance that there is only one who is worthy of worship. Allah. And that his final messenger to us was Mohamed ﷺ

سلام عليكم

عبدالرحيم