The Reverters to Islam 1 ) ( MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE The Reverters to Islam Dr. Munqidh Ben Mahmoud Assaqar A CONSULTANT IN MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE Translated by Sadok Salehi The Reverters to Islam 2 ) ( INTRODUCTION I fought the temptations to succumb to the term often used to describe those who have accepted or embraced Islam. To call these “converts” carries the idea that someone has been following a religion, yet at one stage of his life, crosses the floor to the other side of the house. In fact, it is not so. A human being according to God is born on the natural state of submission to the mighty Lord. It is his parents who will make him a Jew, a Christian or follower of any other belief or culture. At one time, I was thinking if I had been a 5000 year human; I would have been Jew, Christian then a Muslim consecutively. You see, according to the Quran, the book revealed to the Prophet of the Muslims, a man or a woman is born a natural Muslim. The change comes later influenced by immediate family circles and the environment surrounding that particular person. So, the matter isn’t a conversion to Islam, but a return to it after a lapse of time. Anyway, this is a compilation of “exes” Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, who have made a return to the original faith. The author of this book is Dr. Mohammad Munqith Al-Sakkar a researcher, a writer and well- known religious debater. He authored the book titled: “Li hadha Aslamu.” He works as a researcher with the Muslim World League. He has favorably answered my request to translate some of those reverts to Islam. Well, here is the translation depicting the experience of these selected people, and the transition they have made from their former faith to Islam. Generally, it wasn’t smooth sailing for some of them. Some have been hounded down, and others met with violent death. Others, have carved a niche for themselves, and have become well known scholars teaching in Islamic institutions of religious science. Men and women have pursued relentless efforts seeking the truth. They have been rewarded with immense pleasure and inner peace of mind in this world. After all, they have found their callings. Their only solace is their high expectation of the greatest reward of them all: obeying God, achieving His satisfaction and a ticket to paradise. Allah is indeed generous with His servants; He won’t shortchange them. He is just and fair. He has said in the Quran; verse 21 Sura At-Tur: “And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith - We will join with them their descendants, and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds. Every person, for what he earned, is retained.” Sadok Salehi Translator/Interpreter Muslim World League Makkah The Reverters to Islam 3 ) ( Abdulkerim-Gyula Germanus A few days ago, I read an interview with Yana Korobko the Ukrainian Orientalist, who became Muslim. She revealed a most important piece of news. She said, “Numerous Orientalist convert to Islam after years of study and research. They travel to see up close and touch the reality of Muslims in their communities. The road to Orientalism will lead inevitably to embracing Islam, if the Orientalist isn’t afraid of the reactions of those around him.” The Hungarian Orientalist Gyula Germanus is one of those orientalists, who converted to Islam. The Egyptian writer Akkad has described him saying: “He is ten scholars in one.” How cannot that be? He mastered eight languages: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, German, Hungarian, Italian and English. And has the honor membership of many scientific academies, including the Iraqi, Egyptian and Syrian ones. In addition to this, he is a member of the Institute of Oriental Research in London, and the Italian Mediterranean Academy of Sciences. He has also been the Secretary-General of the Hungarian Pen Club. Germanus has been born in Budapest; capital of Hungary in 1884 to Christian parents. His story with Islam began when he was sixteen years of age. He was leafing through a folder that contained pictures, when his eyes fell on a carved wooden plate. The pictures depicted the image of the eastern society through a story teller talking to his audience huddled around him. Germanus saw a light in this picture, and a vibrant culture that he did not see in European society. “I’ve felt an overwhelming nostalgia to know the secret behind this light that dispelled the darkness in this picture.” In the following years, Germanus decided to study history and Languages at the University of Sciences in Budapest. He learned both Turkish and Persian languages, which led him to the study of Orientalism. His brush with languages has kindled his love in the Orient and its civilization. This step has awakened his interest in Islam, which was the spirit of the East and the driving force of its renaissance. In 1902, Germanus visited Bosnia. His mind buzzed with distorted ideas about Muslims, and misconceptions that misrepresent Muslims. The books of his Orientalist teachers are bursting with fallacies that traditionally accuse Muslims of barbarism, violence and cruelty. However, these lies have turned a laughingstock; they soon will be revealed and uncovered in his first contact with Muslims. He has imagined that the two men sitting across from him in a Sarajevo cafe were plotting to kill him. He said, their daggers strapped to their waist, “their head covers, and their odd appearance have given rise to a strange feeling within me. I The Reverters to Islam 4 ) ( was intimidated by their awful appearance. I remembered then bloody stories I've read in fanatical books that talk about the intolerance of Muslims. I have noted that they were whispering to each other. This sight has filled my childish imagination with feelings of panic. He thought they soon would be planting their daggers in the chest of this curious infidel. I wished I could have emerged unscathed from this frightening place, yet; I didn’t dare to move. Few minutes of friendly talk with these Muslims were enough to turn the ideas nestled in his fertile imagination upside down. “Their faces lit up and with affection overflowing with tenderness, they invited me to their homes. Instead of stilettos penetrating my bowels, they overwhelmed me with their hospitality. Such was my first encounter with Muslims.” The Orientalist Germanus completed his studies at the Universities of Istanbul and Vienna. In 1906, he wrote his first book titled: “The history of Poetry of the Ottomans.” This has been followed by another on the history of the Turks before obtaining a doctorate in 1907. Germanus returned to Budapest in 1912, to teach the history of the civilization of Islam and Eastern Languages in Laurent Anovic University for nearly fifty years. His life has been filled with travels and studies that have honed the experience this erudite Orientalist. These have enhanced his intellect, and made him into a distinguished personality in contemporary European thought. However, all this prominence hasn’t been enough to provide Germanus with serenity. “I have found a thin trivial line in the books of science and knowledge nonetheless; my spirit remained thirsty. Hence it was longing for the serendipity of paradise. I quenched my mind’s thirst, but my soul remained parched; I had to denude myself of everything it’s clinging to. I am hoping to recover my loss through meditation and inner experience. I seek to purify my soul through the fire of torment, the same way soft steel becomes rigid when subjected to cold water.” In the years 1929 and 1932 Germanus studied Islamic history at the Universities of Delhi and Lahore. At the invitation of India's great poet Rabindranath Tagore, he carried his main concern and traveled there. His journey will be met with luck. In a dream, he saw the Prophet (PBUH) talking to him: “Why all the worry? The road is ahead of you. The true path is open in front of you. It is as safe as the ground, walk it at a steady pace with the light of faith.” On the following Friday, Germanus announced his conversion to Islam among a crowd of eminent Indian Muslims. He spoke to them in the Shah Jehan Mosque in New Delhi: “I came from distant land to acquire The Reverters to Islam 5 ) ( knowledge not available in my country. I have come seeking your inspiration, and you haven’t failed me.” Germanus added: “I carried on talking about Islam and the role he played in the history of the world. I mentioned the miracle that Allah had allowed His Messenger (PBUH) to perform. I have explained the reasons for contemporary Muslims decline, and the reasons that enable them to regain their past glory. It is an Islamic wisdom that everything functions according to Allah’s command, but Allah says in Sura Ar-Ra’d, verse 11: (“Allah does not change a people's lot, unless they change what is in their hearts.”) Many things have led Germanus to Islam, including its full compatibility with science. Hence, unlike other beliefs, science and faith are attuned to each other. “There’s not a single word in the teachings of Islam that hinders the progress of a Muslim, or prevents increasing his share of wealth, power or knowledge. And there is nothing in the teachings of Islam that cannot be achieved practically. It’s a great miracle distinct from others. Islam is a religion of enlightened mind; it will be the belief of free men.” Therefore, the learned Germanus sees no surprise in the spread of Islam.