(46)
EQUALITY
I am C. M. Walker, 28 years. I have decided to become a Muslim because Islam is actually sent to all humans, all peoples, all countries, and all continents. Jesus was sent to the people of Israel only as Jesus himself said it very clearly in The Bible (Matthew 15:24).
No prophet came or will come after Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad was not sent to the Arabs only, as some people my think. He was sent to all peoples, including those in Europe and the two Americas.
Another thing that attracted me to Islam is the real equality among humans. Islam emphasizes equality and plants it so deep in the hearts of its followers that it has become a daily practice in their life. I bitterly remember, since I am a black American, those days when the blacks were not allowed to enter the churches of the whites. Let alone that we could not go to their schools, restaurants, and clubs. The whites, unfortunately, rejected the blacks so harshly and so cruelly. When the soil is sick, the trees and the fruits will be sick too.
I asked a friend of mine who used to live in the Middle East working at an oil company if Muslims there segregate against the blacks or other colors. He said that Muslims have never practiced any racial, color, or religious segregation inside the mosque or outside it.
To me, Islam looks like an oasis in the desert of the Christian world, which is a world full of big words, but empty of honorable practices. They talk about human rights in the Christian West, but what rights! They talk well and smile well, but they act ill. The US constitution sounds great, but when it comes to implementation, we blacks are simply lost because prejudice against us chases us wherever we go.
I converted from Christianity to Islam because Islam was sent to all humans and because Islam teaches equality and Muslims implement it in their actual daily life. Islam is not words only, but deeds as well. Islam is faith and behavior.
(47)
CONSISTENCY
I am T. B. James, 31 years. I am a student of philosophy, who likes to read about religion, philosophy, and humanities in general. I was a regular reader of The Bible especially since we find it everywhere and we are told by the church that it is God's word.
I noticed, to my amazement, that The Old Testament (OT) differs from The New Testament (NT) in basic things. For example, The OT always refers to God as one, Who has no equals. In contrast, The NT sometimes refers to the Trinity, i.e., three gods. The NT makes the father God and Jesus God and the Holy Spirit God.
The OT talks about one god; The NT talks about three gods though implicitly. The OT says that God has no equal, whereas The NT talks about Jesus being God's son, and, as we know, the son will be equal to his father, as he fully grows. The OT ignores the Day of Judgment and the other life, whereas The NT emphasizes them.
I began to wonder how The OT contradicts The NT on two basic creeds, i. e., God's nature and the Day of Judgment, when both The NT and The OT are supposed to be God's word, as we are always told by the church. The only possible explanation to this OT-NT contradiction is that The Bible, as it is now, is corrupted, and it is no more the pure word of God.
I had a Muslim classmate in my class and I began to ask him about Islam. I have been told that in Islam, God is one, has no son, and has no equal. There are a Doomsday, a Day of Judgment, a Day of Resurrection, the other life, Paradise, and Hell. Islam is consistent in all that it says. I have chosen Islam because of its consistency, clarity, and simplicity, and I am extremely happy that I have made this choice.
(48)
MIST AXES
I am B. W. Jeans, 47 years. I read a book on The Bible. It is a book analyzing The Bible. I am sorry I don't remember its title. That book gives examples of dozens of mistakes in The Bible, all sorts of mistakes. The writer of that book mentions mistakes in geography, mistakes in history, and contradictions inside the same gospel, contradictions inside The New Testament, contradictions inside The Old Testament, and contradictions between the two testaments. He said that The Bible has about thirty thousand mistakes, a horrifying number, for certain.
I myself was shocked at the figure. I said to myself if The Bible had been God's pure word, it would not have had even one single mistake; let alone 30,000 mistakes. In fact, some Christian analysts raise the number of Biblical mistakes up to about 50,000.
I doubted what the man wrote in his book. Hence, I began to check some of his criticisms and the Biblical mistakes which he referred to. In fact, he mentioned bout 200 mistakes. I didn't have time to check them all. I checked ten only. To my surprise, the writer was always right.
I could not but agree with him to the fact that The Bible is full of mistakes, all sorts of mistakes. Here is just one of them as an example: In Genesis (1) on the first page of The Bible, The Bible says that God created night and day on the first day of creation (Genesis 1:5). Then The Bible itself says that God created the sun, one of the two great lights, on the fourth day (Genesis 1:16-19). How can there be night and day on the first day, when the sun was created on the fourth day? This is just one example of mistakes coming right on the first page of The Bible.
The writer of that book emphasizes that The Holy Quran, a book revealed by God, is the last revealed book and it is void of any mistakes, which proves that it is God's true and pure word.
Since I was looking for a book that contains the pure word of God, I have taken The Holy Quran to be my holy book and Islam to be my sole religion.
(49)
BEFORE JESUS
I am R. E. Kinney, 51 years. The church makes the crucifixion of Jesus the core of Christianity. The argument which it always offers is the inability of man to save himself because he is born sinful, i.e., dirty with sin since his first minute on the earth. The church argues that without crucifixion man has no chance at all for self-salvation. Because God loves man, he sacrificed his only son, or himself, in order to save man. This is the Christian theory in brief.
Not all Christians can or could swallow the Christian theory easily. First, I myself, one of many, doubt original sin. The child, in fact, in my opinion, is born sinless ratter than sinful. Second, I do not agree to the Christian assumption that man cannot save himself because he is saturated with sin. Not all men are Satans. There are many persons of all ages and at all places who, if guided, are ready to obey and abide by the requirements of God's guidance. I do not agree that all persons are equally bad, as the Christian theory insists. There were, are, and will be always good persons, clean characters, and honorable people everywhere. Of course, man is capable of sinning, no doubt. Nevertheless, he is capable of righteousness as well.
The most important source of doubt that was raised in my mind is related to those who lived and died before Jesus' crucifixion. According to the Christian theory, the only way to get salvation is to believe in Jesus' crucifixion. To my astonishment, it follows then that none of those who died before Jesus' crucifixion could possibly be saved, not even those followers of Jesus who died one hour or one day before the so- called crucifixion. In other words, billions and billions of people, ie., all those who passed away before Jesus' crucifixion, will be sent to Hell for no fault on their part, but simply because they died before the event of crucifixion. They could not make it because they could not enjoy salvation through crucifixion. Is this reasonable? Will God send all pre-crucifixion people to Hell because they were not saved through the crucifixion of Jesus? Weren't there any good people at all before Jesus' crucifixion?
If salvation cannot happen except through the belief in Jesus' crucifixion, then those who died before it have no chance at all to salvation, which is unfair and unacceptable by all criteria.
My doubt urged me to look for the truth, to read more, and to inquire more. I was led to Islam. Islam holds that you are responsible for your deeds, whether good or bad; and you are judged by God; i.e., Allah, accordingly on the Day of Judgment. This Islamic belief makes man in race with time: he does his best to do as many good deeds as he can and to avoid sins as earnestly as he can. I find Islam much more logical and feel quite convinced of the Islamic answers to my persisting questions.
(50)
ALL PROPHETS
I am E. A. Lowell, 37 years. I have noticed that Christians do not accept Muhammad as prophet and do not accept The Holy Quran as holy. Unfortunately, Christians did to Muhammad what the Jews did to Jesus: disbelief in his message. Judging prophets for what they say and do, I read about Prophet Muhammad's life and read his sayings translated into English from Arabic. I found nothing wrong with what he said or did. In fact, I have never read something more respectable and superb than his sayings, which are full of sympathy and which urge people to be honorable, modest, cooperative, kind, virtuous, truthful, honest, straight, and sincere. He urged people to avoid hypocrisy, backbiting, talebearing, lying, false witnessing, and any other evil manners.
I have read parts of The Holy Quran translated into English. I have never seen a book like that: full of wisdom, righteousness, faith, urging for all virtues, and warning people against all vices.
There is no virtue not commanded to be done in The Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad's sayings. There is no vice not commanded to be avoided.
Islam is great: it recognizes all prophets including Moses and Jesus. It recognizes all revealed books including the true Pentateuch revealed to Moses and the true Gospel revealed to Jesus. Islam includes Moses and Jesus. I admire Islam for its objectivity, comprehensiveness, and inclusion of all previous prophets and revealed books.
That is why I have become a Muslim thanks to God. I do urge all brethren not to miss the opportunity. Share the experience with me, and you will not regret it, I am sure.
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