You converted when you were young and not so learned about Islam
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
I read ‘About
Author’ page and went through your story of your diversion from ‘Bohra’.You said of how you became speechless and lost in
the arguments with a non bohra preacher. Now as you
said you were 18 yrs old(not much learned ) and the
preacher is assumed to be elder to you(learned man)therefore in any case he
only has to win, b’cos the arguments were not between
the two learned men. If you were
equally learned, there would’ve been more pros and cons and better
understanding.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
You converted when you were
young and not so learned about Islam
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
It is indeed true that I
converted to Islam at a young age, and it is almost 20 years since that day
today! And every day since that eventful day, I thank Allah Subhanah
for His Guidance and His Mercy on me…otherwise I would have been completely
ruined!
It is not as if whatever the
brother said, I believed in him blindly, even though I was young and
inquisitive at that age! For a long time
I argued with him with the knowledge and beliefs that I had been born and
brought up in, but when I read the Glorious Quran
with understanding, all those false beliefs were shattered in a way which only
the Glorious Quran can shatter!! Besides, its been almost 20 years since I
was young and 18, and I have, with the help and mercy of Allah Subhanah been studying the Glorious Quran
continuously… and each day that passes, makes me more convinced that what Allah
Subhanah is guiding towards in the Glorious Quran is nothing but the Absolute Truth… and all the
beliefs that exist other the clear guidance and teachings of the Quran, are nothing but falsehoods!
And just to put things in
perspective, I would like to clarify that the person who gave me the first Quran and helped me to recognize the Straight Path, was not a professional preacher nor an elderly scholar! He was no more than a normal good believer,
who had the basic knowledge and understanding of the Glorious Quran. He himself
was a convert from the ways of ignorance, and had accepted the guidance and
teachings of the Holy Quran! May Allah bless him and reward him
generously for his efforts, and grant him honor in this life and
The only reason I so believed
and followed the deen of Bohraism,
was because I was born into it, and found my people and my forefathers
following it. I did not (and neither do
any of the Bohras) follow it, because they have
knowledge from the Glorious Quran! But after reading and studying the Holy Quran, I was left with two choices:
To accept the Bohra deen and belief only
because I was born into it and found my forefathers practicing it; and accept
everything unconditionally what I had learnt and heard from the self-made ‘holy
men’!
or, accept the clear guidance and teachings of
the very words of my Merciful Lord and Creator,
in the Holy Quran.
All Praise is due to Allah Alone
Who had Mercy on me, and guided me to the right decision, and to the Straight
Path of the Holy Quran; and helped me to leave the false
practices and beliefs of ‘shirk’, and
guided me to the Truth of Tawheed! All
Praise is due to Allah Alone, Who guided me to leave the sajdahs I did in
ignorance to men and the thousand graves of his ancestors, and honored me to bow down in sajdah to the One
Lord of the Worlds Alone! All Praise is
due to Allah Alone, Who guided me to leave the worship and invocation of men
and graves, and honored me to invoke and worship the One Lord of the heavens
and the earth! All Praise is due to
Allah Alone, Who guided me to leave the slavery of man (abde-syedna)
and honored me to become Abd-Allah (slave-servant of
Allah)!
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah
Taubah verse 31:They have
made their scholars and their monks as their ‘Rabbs’
besides Allah!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 66:Note it well that
all the dwellers of the heavens and the earth belong to Allah. And those who invoke partners besides Allah, follow nothing but surmises and merely indulge in
guess-works!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verses 29-30:(Yusuf said), “O my fellow prisoners, say, which is
better: various lords or the One
Omnipotent Allah? The
lords whom you worship other than Allah are nothing more than mere names that
you and your forefathers have invented; for Allah has sent down absolutely no
authority for them.
Sovereignty belongs to none but Allah.
He has commanded that you shall not worship anyone but Him. This is the Right and
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister