ISLAM

EXPOSED
THE REAL ISLAM EXPLAINED BY
TWO PERSONS WITH TOTALLY
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS
I was born, 7 pounds and healthy.
My parents glowed and were at their happiest. A perfect moment.
After 3 months I watched my hands and learned about movement.
After 5 months I got curious about my surroundings and moved
objects with my hand.
After 12 months I could sit up and I could respond to my own
name. I also copied some of my parents actions.
After 17 months I could walk independently and enjoyed listening
to music and words.
Step by step I discovered this beautiful world.
My parents had no religion. Naturally I did not follow a religion
myself. A godless life, seeking only earthly materialistic pleasures.
My parents were very wealthy. My mom was chef in a restaurant
and my dad a lawyer. I could have everything I wanted if I asked
for it.
At the age of 12 I started high school. The years to come would
practically go like this: Gossiping, forming groups, being a racist,
occasionally disrespecting my parents and others that loved me.
Dating girls, go clubbing, drinking alcohol and the list goes on. I
was the most popular and handsome guy at school, but inside I
must have been the most depressing. I was missing something in
life, but I did not know what it was. I wore myself out and had no
fear of life or death. Especially death was never on my mind. In
my mind, life was forever.
I wasn’t aware that my life could end at any moment. And what
would happen if I died was never on my mind. I never knew at
that time how lucky I was. I had a loving family and a good life.
At the age of 15 my parents didn’t know what to do with me.
There was nothing stopping me. The only one who could stop this
self-destruction was me. One time my aunt, that hadn’t seen me
for 5 years, was shocked to see what I’ve become. She had a chat
with me to try to change my behavior. I acted as if I was listening
to her just to get her away from me as soon as possible. But there
was one thing I did catch and it struck me.
She said ‘I will not and cannot change you, because society has
nothing to say against you and your behavior. All of the things
you’re doing are being promoted. You are the only one who can
change yourself and you should only do it for yourself. You
deserve it’
Such simple words and logic seemed very odd to hear. After she
left I cried my heart out. I was hurting myself without knowing it.
This was the moment I knew I had to change my life. The only
problem was I didn’t know where to begin.
I noticed I started talking to God in my room before going to bed.
That was strange, because I’ve always lived a life where God
wasn’t on my mind. This must be what people call ‘fitrah’.
I asked for guidance, signs, peace of mind, a major change and a
meaning in life.
There was this girl in my history class who was a Christian. She
never openly talked about her religion, but she always wore a
cross.
I knew other religious people at my school and they were mostly
very disciplined and satisfied with their lives. I used to make fun
of them with my friends. But to think of it, I was secretly jealous of
them.
The name of the Christian girl was Laura. I asked her about God
and about Christianity. She told me that God loves me and that I
should accept Jesus (pbuh) as my savior and to acknowledge that
he is the son of God.
We had many debates about Christianity. About the many sects of
it, about that there are so many versions of the Bible and about
the divinity of Jesus (pbuh) . My heart and mind told me God
exists, but it was not okay for me that he has a son. I could also
not believe that Jesus (pbuh) died for my sins. My sins are for me
to bear and for no one else. And I also did not believe in the
concept of original sin. Every time I looked at a baby, so beautiful,
so pure, my mind just tells me that it couldn’t be true. She told
me to read the Bible and she said that she had the latest version.
This was already an indication that it was nothing for me. But I did
try to read the Bible. The ‘according to Luke etc.’ bits did not feel
good to me. It reminded me of gossips. If someone told me a
gossip, I could never say it the same to another person.
Eventually there were many different versions of a gossip.
The original formation of the Bible also didn’t feel good. Some
Gospels weren’t even chosen to be in the Bible. I wondered why.
There were also too many contradictions and the Trinity was
unexplainable.
Faith wasn’t enough for me. Eventually I decided that Christianity
was a very beautiful religion, but incomplete. I also wondered that
if Jesus (pbuh) was here in this time and saw the Christians of
today, would he approve them? Or have they gone so astray from
his original and pure message, God is one?
Women also used to wear headscarves and the early Christians
also said peace be upon you. Jesus did say it, how come
Christians today don’t?
Helas, my journey had just begun and Christianity was not the
religion that fully gave peace to me.
To me Christianity from afar seemed like a beautiful mirage and
up close a maze with countless of possibilities. I was already
doubting about life and this religion made me doubt even more.
Jesus (pbuh) did learn me a lot of great things. The one I always
keep in mind is ‘The truth shall set you free’
My journey went on. I never researched Hinduism/Buddhism.
Those religions or way of lives seemed so strange and almost
unexplainable. Maybe they used to be the religion of God, but it
was changed so much. I could barely see the truth in it.
There was a Jewish guy in my neighborhood. His name was
Jonathan. He was very firm in his religion and I liked that about
him. I saw him celebrating Pesach with his family. They were
celebrating in the garden and I liked the atmosphere.
One day I went out to play some basketball and I saw him walking
by. I asked him to play with me and he did. After playing some
time we started talking and came to know each other more. He
always wore his kippah or yarmulke. I said that I was looking for
God, but I didn’t know what religion was the truth.
I did wonder why there weren’t a lot of Jews in this world. And how
come this religion isn’t preached from East to West? That struck
me the most. Didn’t Jews want people to become Jews and know
the truth? It seemed like a private club.
He tried to teach me about his religion, but very soon I said that it
wasn’t for me. The thought that there weren’t many jews in this
world stayed in my mind. It was a very scary thought. This could
not be the truth.
By accident ( actually faith) I met a Muslim girl. She was 23 years
old and a librarian. I was 17 years old at the time. Her name was
Aisha and her parents came from Somalia. I still remember the
first time I saw her. She was wearing a long white headscarf and
looked like an angel. She looked like the most beautiful woman
I’ve ever seen. She didn’t even had to show all of her body to be
beautiful. Her modesty and piety gave her a glow.
I went up to her to talk to her and get to know more about her.
After a while I asked her what religion she was following. I did
have a guess, but I didn’t know for sure. She said she was a
Muslim. I had no idea what that meant. All I knew of Muslims were
of the pictures and videos I’ve seen on the news. And they
weren’t really positive. But I was always curious for new things so
I wanted to know more. She asked if I could come back the day
after, because she was very busy. I agreed and went home. I
searched on the Internet about Islam and came to know more
about it. And I got excited. The more I read the more I had a good
feeling about this religion. Was this the truth the non-Muslim
world is trying to hide from me? A distorted view of Islam and
Muslims was imprinted in my mind. It felt like poison and the cure
was true knowledge.
Just as Stephan Hawking has said: ‘’ The greatest enemy of
knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge‘’
The next day I had a talk with her in the reading area in the
library. I asked her why she was a Muslim and how it made her
feel to be a Muslim. Her answers were clear and simple and
satisfying. She said that it’s good to really know your religion. And
not just be part of a religion just because the people around you
have that religion too. She said that in Islam Muslims are ordered
to seek knowledge. Even knowledge of other religions. This could
be good for interfaith dialogue and also strengthen faith in your
own religion. I was surprised to hear that Jesus (pbuh) has a great
role in Islam. The view of Jesus (pbuh) in Islam seemed to be more
in place about what Jesus (pbuh) thaught in the Bible, than what
the Christians in these days teach.
She felt Islam has all the answers to the world’s problems, but
that the Islamic world now is too divided that it can no longer
solve the world’s problems in this state. She asked me to look at
the religion and not the people. Which seemed fair to me. She
also explained that the word Islam was used by God in the Quran.
This makes Islam very different from the other world religions.
Buddhism named after Buddha, Christianity named after Jesus
Christ etc.
Aisha said that in Islam the basic is very clear. From the five
pillars of Islam to the one on one relationship with God. The
crystal clear message of Islam was also very appealing to me.
‘God is here, worship him’. Islam felt like a complete and pure
religion. Aisha gave me a copy of the Quran, the last revelation of
God. After my meeting with her I went home to read the Quran.

I don’t really know how to explain this. But after reading

only the first short chapter of Al Fatiha, The Opening, I
started to cry my eyes out. It was as if someone had put the
heavy weight off of my shoulders. Fresh water over my body
and light everywhere. I could breathe again.
I had no expectations about Islam. Only a clear and inquisitive
mind. I’ve never read a book that fast! Maybe that’s a miracle
itself too, lol. The Quran is like a shining gemstone in the middle
of darkness and confusing.
The miracles in the Quran did help me in my journey. How can the
human mind say no to these facts? Why do they keep on coming
up with lame excuses? This reminds me of a Quranic verse
"Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will not return (to the path). " (2/Al-
Baqarah, 18)
But above all, the teachings of Islam are good for the mind, body
and soul. And could help all societies in this world. All things that
are forbidden in Islam are bad for the mind, body or soul. It’s a
religion that protects and takes great care of life. Both human
nature and animals.
I wanted to learn about this religion from the start. From the life of
Mohammed (pbuh) the seal of the prophets, to the first Muslims,
to the great Islamic empires that shaped our lived today. I
especially love the Andalusian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and
the fact that the Islamic world used to be the best place for
knowledge, tolerance and understanding. I hope that will return,
Insha’allah. I still cannot understand why the life of Mohammed
(pbuh) isn´t taught in schools, but the life and accomplishments
of Shakespeare is.
What Mohammed (pbuh) has done for and to this world is
amazing. He is a Godsend and I love Allah (swt) for bringing Islam
to my life.

Noor- UK/Hindu
I came from a purely Hindu family where we were always taught
to regard ourselves (i.e. women) as beings who were eventually to
be married off and have children and serve the husband - whether
he was kind or not. Other than this I found that there were a lot of
things which really oppressed women, such as:
* If a woman was widowed, she would always have to wear a
white sari (costume), eat vegetarian meals, cut her hair short, and
never re-marry. The bride always had to pay the dowry (bridal
money) to the husband's family. And the husband could ask for
anything, irrespective of whether the bride would have difficulty
giving it.
* Not only that, if after marriage she was not able to pay the full
dowry she would be both emotionally and physically tortured, and
could end up being a victim of "kitchen death" where the
husband, or both the mother-in-law and the husband try to set fire
to the wife while she is cooking or is in the kitchen, and try to
make it look like an accidental death. More and more of these
instances are taking place. The daughter of a friend of my own
father's had the same fate last year!
* In addition to all this, men in Hinduism are treated literally as
among the gods. In one of the religious Hindu celebrations,
unmarried girls pray for and worship an idol representing a
particular god (Shira) so that they may have husbands like him.
Even my own mother had asked me to do this. This made me see
that the Hindu religion which is based on superstitions and things
that have no manifest proof , but were merely traditions which
oppressed women could not be right.
Subsequently, when I came to England to study, I thought that at
least this is a country which gives equal rights to men and
women, and does not oppress them. We all have the freedom to
do as we like, I thought. Well, as I started to meet people and
make new friends, learn about this new society, and go to all the
places my friends went to in order to "socialise" (bars, dance
halls, etc.). I realised that this "equality" was not so true in
practice as it was in theory.
Outwardly, women were seen to be given equal rights in
education, work, and so forth, but in reality women were still
oppressed in a different, more subtle way. When I went with my
friends to those places they hung out at, I found everybody
interested to talk to me and I thought that was normal. But it was
only later that I realised how naïve I was, and recognised what
these people were really looking for. I soon began to feel
uncomfortable, as if I was not myself: I had to dress in a certain
way so that people would like me, and had to talk in a certain way
to please them. I soon found that I was feeling more and more
uncomfortable, less and less myself, yet I could not get out.
Everybody was saying they were enjoying themselves, but I don't
call this enjoying.
I think women in this way of life are oppressed; they have to dress
in a certain way in order to please and appear more appealing,
and also talk in a certain way so people like them. During this
time I had not thought about Islam, even though I had some
Muslim acquaintances. But I felt I really had to do something, to
find something that I would be happy and secure with, and would
feel respected with. Something to believe in that is the right
belief, because everybody has a belief that they live according to.
If having fun by getting off with other people is someone's belief,
they do this. If making money is someone's belief, they do
everything to achieve this. If they believe drinking is one way to
enjoy life then they do it. But I feel all this leads to nowhere; no
one is truly satisfied, and the respect women are looking for is
diminishing in this way.
In these days of so called "society of equal rights", you are
expected to have a boyfriend (or you're weird!) and to not be a
virgin. So this is a form of oppression even though some women
do not realise it. When I came to Islam, it was obvious that I had
finally found permanent security. A religion, a belief that was so
complete and clear in every aspect of life. Many people have a
misconception that Islam is an oppressive religion, where women
are covered from head to toe, and are not allowed any freedom or
rights. In fact, women in Islam are given more rights, and have
been for the past 1400 years, compared to the only-recently
rights given to non-Muslim women in some western and some
other societies. But there are, even now, societies where women
are still oppressed, as I mentioned earlier in relation to Hindu
women.
Muslim women have the right to inheritance. They have the right
to run their own trade and business. They have the full right to
ownership, property, disposal over their wealth to which the
husband has no right. They have the right to education, a right to
refuse marriage as long as this refusal is according to reasonable
and justifiable grounds. The Qur'an itself, which is the Word of
God, contains many verses commanding men to be kind to their
wives and stressing the rights of women. Islam gives the right set
of rules, because they are NOT made by men, but made by God;
hence it is a perfect religion.
Quite often Muslim women are asked why they are covered from
head to toe, and are told that this is oppression - it is not. In
Islam, marriage is an important part of life, the making of the
society. Therefore, a woman should not go around showing herself
to everybody, only for her husband. Even the man is not allowed
to show certain parts of his body to none but his wife. In addition,
God has commanded Muslim women to cover themselves for their
modesty:
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of
the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) over their bodies (when
outdoors). That is most convenient that they could be known as
such (i.e. decent and chaste) and not molested." (Qur'an 33:59)
If we look around at any other society, we find that in the majority
of cases women are attacked and molested because of how they
are dressed. Another point I'd like to comment on is that the rules
and regulation laid down in Islam by God do not apply just to
women but to men also. There is no intermingling and free-
running between men and women for the benefit of both.
Whatever God commands is right, wholesome, pure and beneficial
to mankind; there is no doubt about that. A verse in the Qur'an
explains this concept clearly:
"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and
protect their private parts (i.e. from indecency, illegal sexual acts,
etc.); that will make for greater purity for them. And God is well
aware of what they do. And say to the believing women that they
should lower their gaze and protect their private parts (from
indecency, illegal sexual intercourse, etc.); and that they should
not display their beauty and ornaments . . . " (Qur'an, Surah Al-
Nur 24:31)
When I put on my hijab (veil), I was really happy to do it. In fact, I
really want to do it. When I put on the hijab, I felt a great sense of
satisfaction and happiness. Satisfied that I had obeyed God's
command. And happy with the good and blessings that come with
it. I have felt secure and protected. In fact people respect me
more for it. I could really see the difference in behaviour towards
me.
Finally, I'd like to say that I had accepted Islam not blindly, or
under any compulsion. In the Qur'an itself there is a verse which
says "Let there be no compulsion in religion". I accepted Islam
with conviction. I have seen, been there, done that, and seen both
sides of the story. I know and have experienced what the other
side is like, and I know that I have done the right thing. Islam does
not oppress women, but rather Islam liberates them and gives
them the respect they deserve. Islam is the religion God has
chosen for the whole of mankind. Those who accept it are truly
liberated from the chains and shackles of mankind whose ruling
and legislating necessitates nothing but the oppression of one
group by another and the exploitation and oppression of one sex
by the other. This is not the case of Islam which truly liberated
women and gave them an individuality not given by any other
authority.