https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhT7SaIE_DQ&t=1s
Westerners are not typically attracted to Islam but there are exceptions. A small group inside of those who are attracted to Islam become converts. What attracts them to this foreign religion? They probably think that the Trinity is esoteric and Tawheed makes more sense. They probably don’t like the Christian doctrine of atonement. They probably like the fact that the Quran has never been changed. The latter statement is utterly false according to Islamic sources. Anyways, these are some of the reasons that they convert.
Why did Scott Hahn convert to Catholicism from Calvinism? Well, he wrote the book Rome Sweet Home that anyone can read. To make a long story short, he came to believe that Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura were false, he came to believe that the Church had always regarded the Eucharist as the physical body and blood of Christ and a few other doctrines of Catholicism he found Biblical and historical over against Calvinist doctrines.
That being said, not every Catholic doctrine came easily to Hahn. He really struggled with the Catholic doctrines regarding the Virgin Mary. He eventually came to just accept it because if the Church is correct on all of those other things, it must be right on Mary. Other converts have other issues. One Catholic that I follow on Twitter who is a relatively recent convert from Evangelicalism said she really struggles with Original Sin. Others struggle with Purgatory and those who come from a non-Christian background often struggle with some of the violent episodes of the Old Testament. They eventually accept these doctrines as they believe that the large portion that they came to believe in outweighs their doubts about certain doctrines. Eventually they come to believe and even like the doctrines that they once feared. For example, Scott Hahn eventually wrote a book about Mariology.
What do Muslims struggle with? To be honest, I think that they struggle with Muhammad being the final prophet and person to follow as Surah 33 outlines. Muhammad is the bitter pill that these Muslims must swallow in order to have their supposedly perfect Quran and Tawheed. I think they probably justify it because of some of his large scale accomplishments such as converting Arabia from polytheism to monotheism and revealing the Quran. However, no one is going to study Muhammad’s life from the Sira and Hadith and convert because of Muhammad’s sexual ethics. Let’s be honest, the man had worse sexual morals than King Henry VIII. Also, they’re not going to convert because of some of his instructions which will get you killed if you follow them such as the instructions found in the following Hadith:
Narrated by Saud; the Messenger (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, “If Somebody takes seven ‘ajwa dates in the morning, neither magic nor poison will hurt him that day.” [Sahih Bukhari, Book #71, Hadith #664 (also 663, 672)]
From talking to Western converts to Islam, most hadn’t studied Muhammad’s life from the Sira or Hadith before they accepted Islam. They had typically only read the Quran and maybe something like Karen Armstrong’s biography of Muhammad. In other words, Muhammad being the central figure is the difficult part to accept.
When we do outreach to these people, this would be a good area to focus on. We should ask them why they accepted Muhammad. What turned them on about this man that he was worth entrusting their eternal salvation to? I think that Muhammad is the achilles heel of Islam and deep down Western converts know this. I often refer to Islam as “Muhammad’s religion” since that’s what it is. It’s not the religion of Moses, Jesus, or anyone who preceded Muhammad. This is the religion of Muhammad and no one else. The Western convert will probably have an easy time explaining why they converted to Muhammad’s religion. They’ll have a much harder time explaining why they accepted Muhammad himself.
Question for my readers that is completely unrelated to the above post:
Do any of my readers speak, read, or understand Japanese? I’m currently in the middle of a research project related to this blog and would appreciate it if you could contact me. I know that I had a reader some time ago who did but I don’t think that he’s read this blog in over a year. If you’re proficient or even semi-proficient in the language, please send me an email at alruhl25@gmail.com.
God Bless
“I often refer to Islam as “Muhammad’s religion” since that’s what it is. It’s not the religion of Moses, Jesus, or anyone who preceded Muhammad. This is the religion of Muhammad and no one else.”
The old-fashioned term “Mohammedanism” well fits the religion that we now refer to as Islam. Until relatively recently that was the name that us Westerners used to refer to it.
The question I try to use to Muslims is “Why do you choose to believe what Mohammed had to say?”. They usually don’t answer it and go off on a tangent. (Note that I have spoken to very few of them properly about religion and when I have they have tended to be only cultural Muslims, and quite ignorant of the Koran.)
Hi Christopher,
I personally don’t tend to use the word Mohammedanism. It reminds me of when Protestants call our faith Romanism. I have a thick skin so I don’t get bothered when they say this but it’s essentially just erecting another barrier. I’ll call them what they prefer. The term however does indicate that it is certainly Muhammad’s religion which I pointed out in the article.
Your question is interesting since like I pointed out, most Muslims haven’t actually studied what Muhammad had said. I think your question would be especially good for Western converts. Most dawah folk attack the Trinity but even if you destroy someones faith in the Trinity, that doesn’t mean that one should become Muslim. Why not be a JW, a Unitarian or a Jew? It’s a good tactic.
It’s interesting to note that probably my favorite Muslim social commentator is Kevin Barrett, who is a convert to Islam from Unitarianism. He never would have had to deal with Christology at all. He’d be a really good person to ask the question to.
God Bless,
Allan
For us,Muhammad is our guide to Allah.he is the best example .what problem for him to marry and get children
If he was a man engulfed for his sexual desire ,can he marry his first wife,14 years elder,for 25 years untill her death.
What is your problem with dates,unless you are not diabetic??
Can a man be a liar and get more than 1.7 billion followers all over the world.
Message of muhammad came as a mercy from god to reconcile and correct the corruption made to the previous 2 relegion
Christianity by worshiping jesus as a god
And Judaism by declining God position and appreciating themselves above other mations
Hello Hatemahmoud,
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I’ll share some responses.
“For us,Muhammad is our guide to Allah.he is the best example .what problem for him to marry and get children”
In Surah 4:3 it says that a Muslims can have up to four wives. Why did Muhammad get more? According to Bukhari he had 9 at one time.
“If he was a man engulfed for his sexual desire ,can he marry his first wife,14 years elder,for 25 years untill her death.”
I’m not sure what you mean here.
“What is your problem with dates,unless you are not diabetic??”
Nothing is wrong with dates but they don’t protect you from poison.
“Can a man be a liar and get more than 1.7 billion followers all over the world.”
Yes, because Islam was spread by Jihad. It was backed by political power before it left Arabia.
“Message of muhammad came as a mercy from god to reconcile and correct the corruption made to the previous 2 relegion
Christianity by worshiping jesus as a god
And Judaism by declining God position and appreciating themselves above other mations”
I actually think that the Quran really misunderstands the two religions that it claims to supersede.
God bless.
Allan