I think I posted this in another thread, but hey, it fits here.
It doesn't matter how someone is brought to you, what matters is that they are there.
Kinda like the prodigal son, rejoice that they are in the fold.
I thought about converting and becoming Muslim. There are a number of reasons why I didn't that don't matter. But while I was considering it and what it would mean in my life, I really looked into Islam and the people who follow it. Since the closest example I have of a devout Muslim is someone I respect, honor, and love - that would have made the choice a lot easier to convert. Why shouldn't you grow to love the religion of the person you respect the most, especially if it is a major part of the characterand values that they have? It is a part of them. I think the fact that they convert out of a sense of love and respect (for the person or religion, doesn't matter, since the religion only lives through people) should be considered more than someone who follows out of a sense duty and no passion. Was that too confusing??
I know it is, and when i was in Karachi, I offered a Hindu girl in PECHS to change my religion in order to marry her. That backfired, and she rejected me
Love makes u humble and preposterous, what can i say any more !?
But if u both grow apart, and he or u divorce each other, would u still remain muslim, given the fact that u now hate him (for instance his extram marital affairs)
If you really read what I wrote, you would have read that I didn't convert and I'm not getting into that for it is not pertinent to this thread.
I know you mean no harm, if I had converted and we did divorce, why would I blame all of Islam for his actions?
Ok, maybe I will go into one reason why I didn't convert. Personally, a committment is a committment. I made a committment to my religion and I wouldn't leave it over a man. That is my bond with my God, it should mean more than the bond with another person.
That said, if someone is committed to their religion, then they will stay that way. If someone is not committed, maybe didn't believe at one time, haven't been taught the right way, or maybe is drawn to another religion because it strikes something in them nothing else has in their own, then they will convert.
Again, why question their motives? They are there, maybe they were lead there the wrong way, but there they are. Teach them the right way, love them as a brother/sister, support them when they make mistakes, lead by example, and they will stay.
Faisal janab – if a person converts so that he/she can marry the other, in my eyes that is wrong. They should do it for Allah and not because it’ll bring about a happy clappy marriage.A complete or proper Muslim is one who accepts the faith because of Allah. I cant make it any simpler for you.
Maddy and Majestic-- I want to know how a person is not different if he/she does it for another person. Now I know that once they believe fully with their heart, they are Muslims, and yes every action is judged by its intention. Its not that Im judging those people, or that Im saying they are not Muslim, I am saying they are doing it for the wrong reasons.
Minah-- thank you. Excellent answer. I agree with you. So if somebody you love and care for introduces you to the new faith, you learn about it, you see how it is, and then you accept it for what it is. Then if you feel that its the faith God wants you to have, you accept it. Thats you being introduced to it by someone you love, you’re not accepting it for somebody you love.
The case I am talking about is, when people dont care to learn about the faith or they feel nothing about it, yet they convert for the sole purpose of marriage.
Then, MQ, they are hypocrites, we have christians who do the same.
In the end, God/Allah judges your sincerity.
I think though most can become sincere by example.....
After we moved a month ago, my daughter became friends with a girl down the street. They are both about 15. My daughter came home about 2 weeks ago and was troubled. She said that she went over this girls house to meet the family and none of them were Muslim. I was worried at first that she was a teen who was doing this for the impact of being a Muslim in America (you know the kind, social protest in a round-about way). I spoke to her for a little bit after that and asked some questions.
It turns out that a couple of years ago, she developed a crush on a boy and he was muslim. So, in order to have something in common with him and be noticed, she started going to the Mosque in the neighborhood where he went. Long story short, over time she lost interest in the boy and became a Muslim. She is 15 and her family ridicules her constantly for converting. She does odd jobs to be able to pay for what she needs to dress herself appropriately. She quietly does what she has to do. She was the one who goes everyday after school to I forgot the word, d** senility, you know, where they teach Quaran* but has to leave after an hour because her mother wants her home to watch the younger kids.
Regardless for her reasons for going to a Mosque and for becoming a Muslim, once she was there, the people and the religion kept her there. Her orginal intentions didn't matter.
Hey, Whatever happened to the band-wagon of “Only Allah is the judge” ?
If the revert is saying he/she is muslim, for God sake uss ko musalamaan maan lo.
It is one of the rules mentioned in Islam to believe in person being muslim if he/she says to believe in all basic fundamentals of Islam by tongue, ofcourse not the one who denies any of those and yet call him/herself Muslim.
after all there are many born muslims who even do not believe in their own faith (by denying to practice it) and yet people marry them
Thanks Anwaar. Again Im not judging. I was asking a question based on facts.
I have no issue with accepting the person as a Muslim. I just meant that no person should ever have to change a faith because of another person. Its wrong to do it that way. And personally I know of people who have taken those exact steps. Sort of weird I must say.
MQ - Sometimes people are moved to do something, you never know how God/Allah is working. Half the battle is getting people to show up so they can hear a teaching or a sermon, the other half is getting them to accept it.
Initially, it may be wrong for someone to follow another into a faith because of lust, but if they listen and accept that faith because of it, then that was the way God lead him to that faith.
MQ - I teach an adult programming class in C++ for beginners. In a class about halfway through I usually ask everyone to write a sort of medium loop code and ask 5 people to write what they have on the board.
Everytime without fail, there is usually 3-5 different ways to write the program ending with the same result. I always do this to stress the point that everyone has a different idea and way of doing things but as long as the result is the same (or workable) they are all correct.
If the result is a sincere, practicing Muslim, does it matter how they got there or the reasons they started learning?
That’s so wrong, I would never marry a woman like that, I don’t care if she was born into a Kaafir family but she has to accept Islam wholeheartedly to be worthy. Marriage is no joke, you need a decent wife who will bring your children up well according to Islamic tradition and instil good family values that are a part of our culture religion.
We’re allowed to marry Christian and Jewish women but I never would because I can’t handle the responsibility. As they say in Punjabi…
“Neechan naal aashnaiyaan laa ke fez kisey na paaya, kikkar te angoor charrha ke har gutcha zakhmaaya”.
When I see around me, many decent women r non-muslims, and quite a few muslim women r indecent and vulgar.
Decency, honesty, integrity and manneres have nothing to do with one’s religion or lack thereof. It is in the nature and upbringing, which can go wrong in all societies and almost all homes.
