The Conversion Story of Jacob Williams to Islam

I was sent a conversion story about a young Englishman named Jacob Williams.  He converted to Islam and he shares the reason why in First Things Magazine.  He’s also quite fond of Western culture.  There used to be a guy on Twitter named the Muslim Traditionalist.  I don’t think he’s been active for a while but he was an interesting fellow.  He’s a fan a Joseph de Maistre.  Jacob Williams might very well be as well.

The story starts with Williams taking an interest in religion.  He writes:

But when I entered the chapels and listened to the ministers, the regeneration I sought didn’t happen. Christian voices sounded all too agreeable and compromising. I wanted something stronger, something that didn’t bargain with secularism. I found it in Islam.

In this essay, though he doesn’t say it outright he seems to have only attempted to attend the Church of England.  Even by Protestant standards, the Church of England is a joke.  It started off as a religious project by the reprobate Tudor family which controlled England for a little over a century, now it has given into every demand that the secular left has given them.  It sounds that he didn’t try any other religion.

He’s into philosophy which is interesting enough.  If he had tried the Catholic Church, he would have found solid philosophy but it sounds like he didn’t go there.  Then he tried Islam and that seemed to fit.  Well, if you’re going to line up Islam and the Church of England in terms of a religion that actually stands for something, of course Islam is going to win with ease.

He then moves onto the Trinity.  Of course he attacked the Trinity from a secular philosophical perspective and not a Quranic perspective.  If he had taken a good look a Surah 5 then he probably would have moved on from Islam right there.  It doesn’t sound like he did any research regarding the Trinity beyond the Trilemma of C.S. Lewis.

Williams writes:

C. S. Lewis argued that a man claiming to be God must be either a lunatic, a liar, or truly the Lord. Likewise, a man claiming to be a Messenger of God must be either insane, dishonest, or just what he says he is. I judged, based on my reading of history, that Muhammad (peace be upon him) could not have been either of the former two.

That was a pretty bad “reading of history” since Muhammad seems to fail that test with flying colours.  I think Muhammad believed in what he was preaching so liar is out.  Lunatic is the best option; especially with his denial of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the false statement of Abraham and Ishmael establishing the Kaaba and the Hajj.

Williams continues:

The facts of his life and ministry reveal an honest man in full possession of his rational faculties.

Like I said, he believed in what he was saying so I’d concede that he was honest.  To say that he was in full possession of his rational faculties is simply absurd.  Do rational people try to commit suicide when they hear a voice?  Do rational people dunk flies in drinks if they happen to fall in?  Do rational people say that Mary is part of the Trinity?  I don’t think so.  It seems that Williams has a very Karen Armstrong type view of Muhammad.

He writes:

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place upon my learning of the long process of redaction and recomposition that produced the canon that became the Bible. This was consistent with the Islamic narrative of an earlier revelation that, though true, was imperfectly preserved. The Qur’an was the unification and confirmation of what the Bible merely tried to assemble.

I think at this point Williams is just repeating standard Islamic talking points.  They aren’t Quranic talking points as the Quran says that the People of the Book have no ground to stand on unless they follow the Torah and the Gospel.  Williams has referenced Ehrman on his blog before so that may be a hint where he’s coming from.

He then goes on about how he has a love for the West.  He writes:

I appreciate the best of the West, not despite being a Muslim, but because of it.

What’s the best of the West?  I honestly can’t stand the West.  The only thing that I like about post-reformation England is Shakespeare and there is a good chance that he was a closet Catholic.  Western Europe is a joke.  Sure, in the 12th and 13th century it had some impressive philosophy but Europe after the enlightenment is a joke.  I want nothing to do with that continent.  All it does is promote secularism and sexual liberation.  The West is dead.  Joseph de Maistre and other counter-enlightenment philosophers fought hard to revive it but failed.

Jacob Williams seems like a nice guy.  He’s the kind of guy that I’d like to sit down for a meal with.  Maybe have a beer…or tea with.  I don’t know why he didn’t explore Catholicism.  He would have been a good fit.

Here’s his article.

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/05/why-i-became-muslim