Fines for tampering with electricity meter range between SR5000 and SR100000 New amendments made in Electricity Law    Saudi Arabia deports 8,051 illegal residents in a week    Saudi Arabia is among world's top donors with assistance worth SR528 billion    GCC – Japan negotiations make progress in sealing free trade agreement    Inzaghi hails Al Hilal's fearless Club World Cup run    UNRWA calls for urgent fuel delivery to Gaza to prevent shutdown of basic services    Syria rules out foreign borrowing as central bank hails post-Assad recovery    Pakistan army kills 30 militants in cross-border clash near Afghanistan    State of emergency declared in Crete after wildfire devastates Ierapetra    OPEC+ further accelerates oil output hike by 548,000 bpd in August    Football world mourns Diogo Jota and brother André Silva at funeral in Portugal    Al Hilal exit Club World Cup after narrow defeat to Fluminense    Saudi Arabia tops global ICT Development Index for 2025    Hotel occupancy in Saudi Arabia rises to 63% as tourism workforce tops 983,000 in Q1 2025    Alkhorayef Commercial Company partners with XSQUARE Technologies to elevate logistics automation in Saudi Arabia    Portugal and Liverpool FC winger Diogo Jota dies in car accident in Spain    Michael Madsen, actor of 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs' fame, dead at 67    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Conversion tales are useless unless lessons are learnt
Dr. Laurence B. Brown, MD
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 13 - 01 - 2011

HAVING repeatedly been asked about how I became Muslim, and why, I have decided to tell the story one last time, but this time on paper. However, I feel conversion stories are worthless unless related with the lessons learned, and it is with those lessons that I intend to begin.
No doubt, there is a certain fascination with conversion stories, and for good reason. Frequently they involve dramatic life-altering events, sufficient to shock the convert out of the materialistic world and into the spiritual.
Those who experience such life dramas are brought face to face with the bigger issues of life for the first time, forcing them to ask the ‘Purpose of Life' questions, such as ‘Who made us?' and ‘Why are we here?' But there are other common elements to ‘conversion' stories, and one of them is that the convert is humbled to his or her knees at such moments, and looking back, most relate to having prayed with sincerity for the first time in their lives.
I have been intrigued by these commonalties, and have noted some significant lessons. The first, I would say, is that most converts who passed through these moments of trial and panic prayed directly to God, without intermediary, and without distraction. For example, even those who spent their lives believing in the Trinity, when faced with catastrophe, instinctively and reflexively prayed directly to God, and never to the other proposed elements of the Trinity.
Let me relate a story as example. A popular television evangelist once had a lady relate her ‘Born Again' Christian conversion story, which revolved around a terrible boat-wreck, from which she was the sole survivor. This lady related how during her days and nights of survival against the harsh elements of the open ocean, God spoke to her, God guided her, God protected her, etc. You get the idea. For maybe five to 10 minutes she told her tale, which was indeed dramatic and captivating, but throughout the story she related how God did this, God did that, and seeking His favor, she prayed to God and to God Alone. However, when she was saved by a passing ship, she described how the minute she landed on the ship's deck she threw her arms open to the heavens and yelled, “Thank you, Jesus.”
Well, there is a lesson there, and it relates to sincerity. When in the panic and stress of circumstance, people instinctively pray to God directly, but when conceiving themselves safe and secure they frequently fall back into previously held beliefs, many (if not most) of which are misdirected. Now, we all know that many Christians equate Jesus with God, and for those who would like to argue the point, I just suggest they read my book on the subject, entitled The First and Final Commandment (Amana Publications). For all others, I would just continue by saying that the real question is ‘Who truly is saved?'
There are countless convert stories, all telling how the God of this or that religion saved the person in question, and all of these converts conceive themselves to be upon the truth by nature of the miracle of their salvation. But as there is only One God, and therefore only one religion of absolute truth, the fact of the matter is that only one group can be right and all others are living in delusion, with their personal miracles having confirmed them upon disbelief rather than upon truth. As God teaches in the Holy Qur'an:
“…Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides unto Himself those who turn to Him in repentance.” (13:27)
…and:
“So, as for those who believed in Allah and held fast to Him, He will admit them to His Mercy and Grace (i.e. Paradise) and guide them to Himself by the straight path.” (4:175)
As for those astray in disbelief, they will be left to stray, as they themselves chose.
But the strength of belief, even when misdirected, is not to be underestimated. So who is going to become Muslim based upon my conversion story? Only one person – me. Muslims may find some encouragement in my story but others may be left empty, just as Muslims sigh and shake their heads in despair when hearing others relate the ‘miracles' which followed prayers to patron saints, partners in the Trinity, or other distractions from the One True God. For if a person prays to something or someone other than our Creator, who, if not God, might be the one answering those prayers? Could it just possibly be a certain one who has a vested interest in confirming those who are astray upon their particular flavor of disbelief? One whose dedicated purpose is to lead mankind astray?
However a person chooses to answer those questions, these are issues addressed at length in The First and Final Commandment, and those interested can investigate. But for now, I will tell my story.
How did Dr. Brown become a Muslim?
To be continued tomorrow
Courtesy:www.islamreligion.com __


Clic here to read the story from its source.