Absolutely Beautiful Story of a Jew’s Acceptance of Islam, his life curated by Al-Aziz Al-Hakeem

www.islamland.com/uploads/books/en-Dr. Moustafa Mould, Ex-Jew, USA.docx

In a search for something else, I ran across this amazing story about a man’s journey through life as a Jew, then atheist, scholar, professor, worker at “survival” jobs, linguist, scholar of African languages and cultures, and finally Muslim. What’s especially worthy in this narrative, along with its compelling honesty, is how it offers a more organic conversion story, even pretending to have a belief one doesn’t actually exactly have, which in turn shows us this doesn’t have to be a WOW! moment but rather a gradual process. This is what I call Allah’s “curation” of our lives, should we in some way open ourselves to something good, in his case justice and learning empathy from a world where xenophobia both victimizes and unites Jewish culture/society in particular. He also brings unique details through the history of an era I know well in America, and describes eloquently how clear of US prejudices and shortcomings African and other cultures are, how the liberal and leftish Jewish culture was both pro-Zionist and anti-right wing extremism (which to leftist Jews then included Menachem Begin). Well-worth reading, this highly insightful article I found both inspiring and informative, helping me understand certain cultural issues more deeply.

The Quran is Clear and Unambiguous

It should make sense that the Quran, as a divine message, is mubeen or clear and unambiguous.

طس ۚ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْقُرْآنِ وَكِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

Ta, Seen. These are the verses (ayat) of the Qur’an and a clear Book. (Quran 27:1)

The word “mubeen” here is translated “clear” for readability but the exact meaning has stronger implications than merely “clear.” It is unambiguous and the opposite of occult. That in turn is important because the Quran is a book sent for people to understand, not to create mysteries that require a special clergy or priest-like caste of scholars to interpret.

Allah in the Quran and Abstract Thought

As mentioned frequently on this website, “thinking” is mentioned in the Quran itself so often that its significance as an imperative is indisputable. Thinking, in Arabic the verb form of ‘aql  which in modern Arabic means “mind” or intellect, is used in parallel with “faith” or “to have faith in/ believe”, implying that without thinking there can be no faith. This stands in direct opposition to the Christian concept of a “leap of faith” in which the believer accepts “absurdity” — precepts that contradict one’s own logic — and therefore “leaps” over or sidesteps the intellect in favor of a particular belief, such as the confounding of human with divine in the deification of Jesus. Some Islamic movements such as the salafi,  reject the use of the mind in favor of unquestioning adherence to a dogma based on certain hadeeths or sayings of Prophet Mohammad, and narrow interpretations of Quranic text, in effect creating an Islam much like “evangelical” Christianity: dogmatic, rigid, and hostile to logic or scientific or abstract thought, which are viewed as dangerous.

The Quran clearly admonishes the exact opposite: freedom of thought and faith arrived at by one’s own inquiry and inherent logic, based on a clearly elucidated tenet that faith in Allah is the logical conclusion of deep and unadulterated (by compulsion) meditation and intellect-based thinking which at its core is reverence for Allah. Thinking, in the Quran, takes place in the heart, where it sorts out intuition, experience, emotions, ideas, and uses logic.

The “Holy War” Lie

Syria’s Tragedy Exposes Dark Side of War

The Quran is unequivocal and mubeen (perfectly clear) on the subject of war: it is prohibited to be fought as a means of converting people to Islam——

لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىٰ لَا انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

(Surat Albaqara 2:256)

There is no compulsion in religion; the proper way has been clearly distinguished from the wrong way. Whoever rejects evil, and believes in Allah, indeed he has taken grasp of the strongest hold that will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.

Islam, according to the Quran, does not permit the acceptance and adoption of a belief system to be by force. All true belief must be freely chosen from the heart. Free will is an essential component of faith. Allah prohibits forcing people to convert to a particular religion or to adopt a belief system. To force others to convert to Islam (or any belief, for that matter) is oppression, and hence incurs Allah’s wrath. Contrary to what is being promulgated by some, the above aya unequivocally states that such use of force is both “wrong” and “evil”.

Characteristics of the Prophets

Narrations about the prophets are among the most important elements in the Qur’an. We shall examine the characteristics common to all prophets and some of the related themes that graphically illustrate the significance of their lives and roles as recipients of divine revelation. Examination of one of these themes and essential characteristics may blow you away.